A Real Adventure
This week I went on a tramp to a beautiful waterfall. It is largely untouched by crazy Instagramers so I am not revealing the name here to leave it a sanctuary for local people. It takes a long time to drive there and four farm gates later you are at a remote carpark with a horrible old long drop.
The walk
The tramp is about 1.5 to 3 hours long depending how slow you walk. We took a long time going to our destination as photos were taken all along the way. However the trip back was only about an hour – there was no mucking around.
The Tramping Party
On the walk were two dog photographers – my good friend Craig from Furtography and his visitor – world renowned pet photographer Alicja Zmyslowska . They had two dog models, Cass – a beautiful two year old black dog, and Dusty – an older girl doggy in brown tones. Their owner Mady was controlling the dogs during the photoshoots. My two children Arielle and Louis also came along but I dropped my daughter Maia at her grandparents as she didn’t want to walk.
Lots of Ferns
Alicja loves monotone backgrounds. She took photos using the beautiful ferns in the forest as well as the black fungus that grows on the black beech trees up in the forest. I can’t WAIT to see the photos. We had a lot of stops, but the light was amazing and it was time to get those photos before the light changed.
The Waterfall
This is the most amazing location. It was well worth the short tramp to get there. We were incredibly lucky as it was a cloudy day and I think with sun, we would have been struggling to get the correct lighting in front of the waterfall. We are pretty sure that the sun would have sparkled on the water and rocks, making our portrait subjects too harshly lit. The clouds filtered the light beautifully.
Many Tiers
The waterfall has five layers. I could only see three really and it went right up high into the hill. The bottom layer was the best for the lighting but I also got my daughter in the pool on the second layer up. it was like a beautiful mermaid pool and my daughter’s name Arielle, suited the setting. I took about 23 photos to make a blended photo which showed the whole setting. It works much better than a wide angle shot which can be quite distorted.
The dog photographers
Craig and Alicja took many photos of the two dogs, plus Ralph, Craig’s Affenpinscher dog. Ralph had gotten quite wet and his leg hairs had stuck to his legs, making the legs look like little sticks. He looked very fragile and soaked to the bone. It was quite funny to see him.
Lunchtime at 9am.
My children ate egg sandwiches and then Cass came and ate one or two bits. One bit he snatched straight out of my hand before I could get it to my mouth. We realised afterwards that we ate lunch at about 9am or thereabouts. Very funny but we were all so hungry.
The bottom pool
I put Arielle on a rock near the bottom pool and she was wearing this huge organza skirt. We got it dirty on the bank after the first few photos, so I swished it in the water to clean it and realised how amazing this tough fabric is. It washed out nicely and still kept it’s look while wet. I absolutely LOVE the final products. These two photos show a couple of different ideas I explored. I had to work hard and fast in order to give the dog photographers more time. They were on a paid shoot so wanted to get the perfect photo for their client. I was just playing around.
Double Exposures
Just for fun I did a few double exposures of people and animals overlaid with the waterfall. Such fun!
The walk out
This was the worst part as we had to climb up a significant hill. However with all the mountain biking and crazy exercise I had been doing over the past couple of weeks, I managed it fine and was proud of myself. The dogs and kids were the fittest ones there. So funny!
More of these shoots.
I’m keen to take clients up here, so if anyone is interested, please contact me. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. What other photographer will walk all the way in to an amazing waterfall? Not many. I will!