Roaring Sparks

Beauchamp Falls. Otherwise known as the location I almost lost my shit.

This was our other waterfall location for the day, and to get there we had a lovely walk through incredibly beautiful forest, resplendent with mountain ash, large myrtle beech, and blackwood trees.

At the end of the walk there is a viewing platform where you can watch the water thunder down the 20 metre drop... Or you can back track a little bit and scramble down the banks into the creek bed itself.

After struggling to find a composition, I took off my boots, rolled up my pants and waded into the freezing, churning water.

I made my way downstream and positioned myself so as to capture the texture in the water and the falls in the background - and it turned out pretty damn well!

So why did I almost lose my shit? The conditions and ice-cold water got to me. I was dealing with falling rain and mist from the waterfall itself covering my camera and filters with droplets, and my lens cloths were soaked so my filters were getting streaky... and I couldn't feel my feet.

Oh. And there were people constantly clambering in and out of my shot.

But at the end of the day, I managed to get a shot I am unreasonably proud of (probably due to the perceived obstacles I had to overcome!).

And this is one of the reasons why I love photography. You can’t control the weather, the light, other people in your shot, or a whole number of other little things that combine to try and thwart your attempt when shooting in the wild

But then you have that eureka moment and somehow it all comes together… I love that feeling of absolute satisfaction when I find a solution and overcome the challenges presented and capture an image I think was worth all the hassle. And frozen limbs.

The details for this image are:

• Nikon D750 with Nikon Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR

• NiSi Circular Polarizer

• Sirui W-1204 tripod with K-20x Ball Head⁣

• 1/2s

• f/16

• ISO50