tomrexjessett

The Spa

Vertical panorama looking into spa pool, Karijini

Vertical panorama looking into spa pool, Karijini
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Canon EOS 5D Mark III

settings

Aperture f/16 ISO 50 Shutter 6/1 Focal Length 16/1

upload_date

Oct, 2015

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3194

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+816

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Contest Finalist in Secret Canyons Photo Contest

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Absolute Masterpiece

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+16

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in Karijini National Park in Western Australia. Spa Pool is found at the end of a class 5 short hike through Hammersley Gorge deep inside the park.

Time

I visited the pool at the end of June which is mid winter in Australia. This is the coolest and driest time of the year in Karijini, with daytime temperatures in the mid to high 20's. This makes for very comfortable shooting conditions and great for a swim while waiting to get the shot. This particular image was captured around 2 hours before sunset.

Lighting

Being in a gorge the lighting is the hardest element in this shot. Direct sunlight onto part of the scene created a huge contrast of light and looks unflattering. At sunrise or sunset it is very dark as the light has to work down into the gorge, so the best times I found were around 2 hours after sunrise and 2 hours before sunset.

Equipment

I captured this using a Canon 5D mkiii with the Canon 16-35 L II f2.8 lens. The photo is a vertical panorama consisting of 2 shots both at 16mm to create the desired frame. I used my Vanguard carbon fibre tripod and a remote shutter to get the longer exposure perfectly still. A 3 stop filter was also used to help increase exposure time.

Inspiration

Travelling around Australia I had a number of bucket list shooting locations that I wanted to visit. Spa Pool is a very remote location hours from a big city so not a lot of people get to shoot here, after seeing a few photos pop up on Instagram I knew I had to try and find it to capture it myself. Fortunately for me the trusty camper van made it and I got to shoot my takes on the incredible pool.

Editing

I shoot in RAW so post processing in some form is always necessary. This particular shot is constructed from 2 16mm photos with around 50% overlap. It was shot in landscape but with the intention of creating this vertical image. I made basic target adjustments on both the RAW files in Lightroom, before importing and stitching them together in Photoshop. After stitching I corrected small areas of colour in the scene.

In my camera bag

My camera bag is forever getting heavier! Much to the pain of most photographers. I usually take as much as possible in one of my three bags, if I take the largest (The Thinktank airport commuter) I will carry the following. Canon 5D mk iii body, Canon 16-35 II f2.8 L, Canon 24-105 f4 L, Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L, Canon 50 f1.8, 3 Batteries, Nisi Soft 0.9 soft grad ND filter, Lee Big and Little Stopper ND Filters, Hoya Circular polariser, DJI Osmo and if I'm feeling strong or the site permits it I will take a DJI Phantom 3 Pro.

Feedback

Shooting in remote locations such as this one requires a certain level of common sense and a bit of planning. Make sure you have a decent vehicle, supply of food etc and good first aid supplies before venturing into the bush. You should tell someone where you are heading so the alarm can be raised if you do not return. Hiking to the Spa Pool can be dangerous if you were to slip or fall, a reasonable level of fitness would be required. It is the kind of location that would not be safe to visit during heavy rains as flash flooding can occur and the roads in and out would become very treacherous. Plan ahead, use common sense and have fun shooting a beautiful location!

See more amazing photos, follow tomrexjessett

tomrexjessett

tomrexjessett

The Spa

Vertical panorama looking into spa pool, Karijini

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow tomrexjessett

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