Canyon Photography Weekend – 19-20 December 2015

Last year, about the same time, I had spent a very enjoyable weekend in the Northern Blue Mountains with a friend Albert and we had photographed some of the showcase canyons. On that trip, we had visited Rocky Creek Canyon, the Dry Canyon and Hole in the Wall Canyon. That weekend had been quite successful from a photographic point of view, so I suggested a return to Albert. Albert was keen to head up, and as well as visiting Rocky Creek Canyon again, on the second day, he suggested we could visit The River Caves and then the Grand Canyon. That sounded to me like a good plan.

Rocky Creek Canyon

Rocky Creek Canyon

The weather forecast was  for fine hot weather – good for canyoning, but perhaps not ideal for photography.

We headed up to the Rocky Creek carpark at Galah Mountain and soon had unpacked our gear. We then set off for the canyon. The top part of the canyon was in poor condition for photography with mottled sunlight on the walls. Lower down the canyon things improved – with the walls lit for the most part by indirect light. We set up tripods and unpacked cameras and set to work.

Several hours later, I can remember starting to feel quite cold – and my fingers in particular were having trouble working the camera controls. A cup of tea was a nice solution. I had some hot water in a thermos and the tea was not only a nice drink, but also holding the warm cup aided the return of feeling to my fingers.

As we were photographing quite a few parties passed us by – up and down the canyon.

We eventually headed out and returned to the car. Instead of camping at nearby Barcoo Swamp, we continued to a nice campsite in close proximity to the cliffs above Carne Creek. After setting up our tents, we walked down to a nice lookout for some more photography.

The River Caves Canyon

On Sunday, we packed up and drove to the carpark for the River Caves Canyon. It was only about a 20 minute walk from there to the canyon. Recent trips to this canyon have been closer to winter and the sun has not been so high – making photography difficult. It was nice to return in better conditions.

Again, we spent a few hours in the canyon photographing the changing conditions. The River Caves is almost a twin to Rocky Creek Canyon. It is in a different branch of the same creek system. It is not nearly as long, sustained or spectacular as Rocky Creek, but it still has its appeal. This canyon we had to ourselves.

After our visit, we walked back to the car, and this time we left the South Wolgan area and headed to Blackheath for lunch. After lunch we visited the Grand Canyon for our last bit of canyon photography.

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon has several quite dark and spectacular sections along its length and is technically quite easy, so good for canyon photography.

When we arrived at the abseil point at the start of the main constriction, we were surprised to find a single strand rope tied to the abseil rings. This forced us to abseil using that rope as it may have been left for a party reversing the canyon. We never saw another party and wondered who had left the rope and what for?

We continued through the canyon with plenty of photographic stops.

At the end pool, and the main swim in the canyon, we met another photographer with a camera and tripod set up. As we left, he was starting to swim up the canyon. To exit, because of current track work, we had to climb out via Evans Lookout. We were reluctant to leave the cool of  the canyon. When we returned to the car we found the temperature in Blackheath was 33°.

The was an excellent weekend with nice photographic opportunities. More of my photographs are online. Here are the links – Rocky Creek Canyon, The River Caves Canyon and The Grand Canyon.