Powerful Mitchell Falls at Dawn

[iceman (Mike)]

Had to process something other than a nightscape just to show that we did do some daylight stuff too

A sleepness night on a cold rock ledge overlooking the beautiful, powerful, noisy Mitchell Falls all came down to this. We were there for the pre-dawn morning light, gently illuminating the falls without the harsh shadows we had during the daylight shoot the day before, and the moonlit shoot the night before.

Just before the light was almost right, Ken and I decided that it was time to try a new location, as we’d been on that rock ledge most of the day and night before and needed a change of scenery. So we quickly packed up our gear and climbed back up the cliff, heading out further along the gorge to get a more head-on view of the falls.

We setup on the edge of a high rock outcrop, high above the river below – both of us trying to fit without getting our tripod legs in each others shot (and without bumping each other or falling off!)

We got the shot!
- View Large

The light was beautiful, with the sky turning slight shades of light blue, pink and yellow and the even illumination across the falls was just what we were after.

It’s a 6 image panorama, taken with a Canon 5D Mk II, 17-40mm lens @ 17mm, f/9, ISO125, 1s exposures. Panorama created using AutoPano Pro, and processed using Photoshop CS5.

At about 6:45am we quickly packed up again, ready to walk back to the helicopter pad at the top of the falls where we’d arranged for a 7am transfer to take us back to meet our tour group as we had a long day of driving ahead of us down to Bell Gorge.

The 6 minute transfer included a quick figure 8 over the falls so we could get a few aerial shots of the falls. Unfortunately I was in the front seat, and the chopper didn’t have the front doors removed – so I had a small window I had to try and poke my camera out of and it was really difficult to try and compose the shot.

I only got 1 or 2 shots, but the focus is off. Difficult to really tell at the smaller resolution, but the large version is terrible

However the aerial shots really do show the sheer size of the falls – something you just can’t properly describe to someone and doesn’t really show the scale in the panorama above. The falls are enormous!

Mitchell Falls is without a doubt one of the top 2 or 3 places on our Kimberley Tour. An unspoiled wilderness – extremely difficult and trying to access, but well worth it once you get there.

- Large 1
- Large 2
- Large 3
- Blog

Thanks for looking.

[CapturingTheNight (Greg)]

Gorgeous light and beautiful scenery Mike Great work.

[leon]

Certainly awesome imaging Mike, you have been a happy camper they are views to die for I reckon, well done.

Leon

[BC]

Your images capture the colours excellently Mike. This brings back excellent memories of taking that ride off the edge in the helicopter with our 4 yr old annoyed that he had to sit in between his parents (instead of at the edge) in the back seat with no doors. It is a land all it's own up there.

Bruce

[colinmlegg (Colin)]

There's an old tradition in photo circles where you label your best shots as 'Ken Duncans'. 1st shot = 'Ken Duncan'!

[Octane (Humayun)]

Mike,

A couple of things that /I/ personally feel may improve your first image.

The first thing that grabs me is the saturation. It is very, very strong. If you tone it down by about 25%, or thereabouts, it will help immsensely. Perhaps even if it was just reduced in the red/orange channel.

Maybe it's because I'm personally a fan of lower contrast, it might look better with lesser contrast? Lowering the contrast will soften the waterfall and show a touch more detail, too.

Lastly, the sky seems to be tending to saturation. Is it possible to blend in a sky that is 1-2/3rds to 2 stops under? It looks incongruous to my eyes at the moment.

I know I'm being really, really harsh. Take it for what it's worth, though!

H

[gregbradley]

Interesting how different people prefer different looks.

I personally like as it is but then I do tend to prefer strong colours (to my processing disadvantage at times that I know I have to rein in).

Your other shots have shown a similar style of presentation. Its a bit of a Mike Salway signature look.

Looking at it again I can see what Humi is referring to but I personally like the look of the sky as it gives that desert WA type feel to it. The rocks are probably pretty harsh in colour in reality, are they or did you up the sat?

I like the teal green of the water.

One things for sure your 5D2 is taking super sharp shots. Also your lens/autofocus is performing really well.

Greg.

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by obsidianphotos

Gorgeous light and beautiful scenery Mike Great work.

Thanks Greg, appreciate the feedback.

Originally Posted by leon

Certainly awesome imaging Mike, you have been a happy camper they are views to die for I reckon, well done.

Leon

Thanks Leon. I'd love to go back and visit one day but I don't think it will be for a very long time. Certainly some memories to remember.

Originally Posted by BC

Your images capture the colours excellently Mike. This brings back excellent memories of taking that ride off the edge in the helicopter with our 4 yr old annoyed that he had to sit in between his parents (instead of at the edge) in the back seat with no doors. It is a land all it's own up there.

Bruce

haha yeh we had problems at the Bungles with the helicopter ride when they tried to put one of us in the middle. The photographers wanted to be near the edge!

Originally Posted by colinmlegg

There's an old tradition in photo circles where you label your best shots as 'Ken Duncans'. 1st shot = 'Ken Duncan'!

Thanks Colin, spending that time with Ken certainly inspired me. I almost look at all shots as a panorama now

Originally Posted by Octane

Mike,

A couple of things that /I/ personally feel may improve your first image.

The first thing that grabs me is the saturation. It is very, very strong. If you tone it down by about 25%, or thereabouts, it will help immsensely. Perhaps even if it was just reduced in the red/orange channel.

Maybe it's because I'm personally a fan of lower contrast, it might look better with lesser contrast? Lowering the contrast will soften the waterfall and show a touch more detail, too.

Lastly, the sky seems to be tending to saturation. Is it possible to blend in a sky that is 1-2/3rds to 2 stops under? It looks incongruous to my eyes at the moment.

I know I'm being really, really harsh. Take it for what it's worth, though!

H

Thanks H, appreciate your feedback. I certainly bumped up the saturation intentionally - though I can't comment yet on the sky or contrast because I haven't viewed it on a calibrated monitor. My laptop is far from calibrated I'm sure but for the sky I had already masked in a version that I underexposed 2 stops. If I underexpose any more, the trees themselves become hard to mask in without looking unnatural.

I was going for a bold contrasty look specifically for printing but I won't know for sure how it'll look until I do a test print. I'm looking at my work differently now and it'll take me a few goes to find the rhythm of processing for print.

Appreciate all critique so thanks for that.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Interesting how different people prefer different looks.

I personally like as it is but then I do tend to prefer strong colours (to my processing disadvantage at times that I know I have to rein in).

Your other shots have shown a similar style of presentation. Its a bit of a Mike Salway signature look.

Looking at it again I can see what Humi is referring to but I personally like the look of the sky as it gives that desert WA type feel to it. The rocks are probably pretty harsh in colour in reality, are they or did you up the sat?

I like the teal green of the water.

One things for sure your 5D2 is taking super sharp shots. Also your lens/autofocus is performing really well.

Greg.

Thanks for the feedback, Greg. Appreciate the kind words. I do tend to like a very saturated look and I'm sure some of my shots are close to being 'too' far, but I do like the bold colours and contrast.

Those oranges in the rocks were certainly very bold at sunset - maybe not so much at that time of the morning but the bright oranges and teale water is certainly something I remember of my time there.

I'm *so* happy with the 5D Mk II. I don't even want to pull out the 40D now, even though I was so happy with it when it was all I had. Once you've gone full-frame, it's almost impossible to go back.


Thanks again for your feedback.

[Deeno]

Awesome Mike!

[gary]

Great views Mike!

Did you happen to get any shots of the Livistona palm forests?
The species there can live for hundreds of years.
http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Livistona/eastonii.html

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by Deeno

Awesome Mike!

Thanks Dean!

Originally Posted by gary

Great views Mike!

Did you happen to get any shots of the Livistona palm forests?
The species there can live for hundreds of years.
http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Livistona/eastonii.html

Thanks Gary, unfortunately I didn't get any shots of those palms, but I certainly did take note of them on the drive in.

At that stage, I was in the front of the truck/bus so got a good view of the road and the palms. At points during that drive I would've been very happy to stop and take a few photos but we were on a mission to get to the camp ground with enough time to pitch our tents before sunset, so we didn't stop.

The palms were a very nice view.

[colinmlegg (Colin)]

Mike, what's the road into Mitchell Falls like? As bad as the first half of the Cape Leveque road?

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by colinmlegg

Mike, what's the road into Mitchell Falls like? As bad as the first half of the Cape Leveque road?

Terrible!

Much worse than the Cape Leveque road. The corrugations are bigger and deeper, there's some creek crossings and lots of slow going with deep ruts etc.

Even the road past drysdale station is worse than the Gibb River Road or the road to Cape Leveque, but once you turn off towards Mitchell Falls it gets worse again.

It took us over 3 hours to do the 85km. A smaller car would be quicker - our truck/bus was heavy!

[gary]

Originally Posted by iceman

Terrible!

Much worse than the Cape Leveque road. The corrugations are bigger and deeper, there's some creek crossings and lots of slow going with deep ruts etc.

Even the road past drysdale station is worse than the Gibb River Road or the road to Cape Leveque, but once you turn off towards Mitchell Falls it gets worse again.

It took us over 3 hours to do the 85km. A smaller car would be quicker - our truck/bus was heavy!

Those palms really are something else but I know what you mean about finding
a chance to stop and photograph them.

Years ago we hired a 4WD Hilux out of Broome. When we rolled into the camp ground
at Mitchell Falls, a couple of old timers came over and said to me, "We were
just discussing what sort of vehicle would be best suited to drive on this road,
but you have answered the question for us - a rental vehicle!"

There is a Swahili expression "pole pole" which means to go calmly and
slowly and I am always bemused by ads for 4WD vehicles on television here
that love to depict their vehicles being thrashed prancing over corrugations and
leaping over sand dunes. The last thing one wants to do is have a mechanical
failure out the back of nowhere and it is always wise to do what the East Africans do
and go pole pole.

[shelltree (Shelley)]

What an incredible spot and so well captured Mike!