Time to head back to the Carmarthen Canyons. This trip I was with Bob and we visited Claustral Canyon. It was a warm day, but not super hot. Conditions were overcast and quite humid. There was a forecast chance of showers but no thunderstorms. The afternoon before there had been quiet severe thunderstorms in the Blue Mountains and west, but it appears not that much rain had fallen over the Mt Tomah area.
We set of from the carpark around 9:30 am, and were soon in the creek. About an hour after starting we were abseiling down Calcutta Falls. No other cars were at the carpark, so we knew we would not be held up by other parties in front.
The overcast conditions resulted in soft lighting at Calcutta Falls and in the lower constriction. Not too bad for canyon photography. Here are some photos of the abseils down Calcutta Falls –
At the Black Hole, I set up my tripod and got a few more photos. The lighting was reasonable.
Bob spotted a Broad-headed Snake curled up on the end of a small log. It was quite still. This exposure was ten seconds.
We then continued through the canyon. We passed the Ranon junction. The soft lighting continued and I spent more time photographing with camera mounted on tripod. The canyon was not gloomy as it often can be, rather had an amazing ethereal beauty. Nice!
I kept up with Bob for some of the way. But he later left me and walked down to the Thunder junction. I pfaffed about bit with my camera and tripod. It would have been nice to have spent a few more hours here. Checking the photo EXIF data, I took about 50 minutes to go from the Ranon junction to the Thunder junction. So probably held up Bob about 30 minutes taking photos. I thank Bob for his patience here with my photography.
I then packed my camera away, and we both made fast progress to Rainbow Ravine. On the way I noticed that the Tunnel Swim and gone back up to its original high level. It was at least half a metre deeper than the visit the previous Saturday.
We stopped for lunch, high up in Rainbow Ravine. Then climbed up and walked around the Camels Hump. I had told Bob about the alternative was we had exited the previous Saturday, so we tried it again. This time we were faster – taking about 30 minutes from the turnoff to reach the creek at the exit gully. My 25 m rope was just sufficient for the first and longer of the two abseils.
We arrived back at Bob’s car around 3:15 pm. It had been great day.
More, and larger photos are online here.
Great shots David. What kind of camera gear are you using? Have you enhanced/adjusted light values in software?
Photos taken with a Sony A7rII with a Sony 16-35 f4 lens. Tripod in most of the shots (except abseils). RAW used – and some minor adjustments in Lightroom – eg shadows and highlights.