Crohy Head Sea Stacks

A place where I almost lost my life.

Those who photographed these rocks from the sea level know that to get close to the arch you have to go down a fairly steep cliff. During the day it is not so difficult, but during the night it takes on a slightly different dimension. That night I knew that there will be quite low tide and good weather for photographing this place against the backdrop of stars. Knowing that it will be a semi-difficult trip, I asked my colleague photographer for company. We spent quite a lot of time down there and, as usual, I wanted to illuminate the foreground using light painting technique. After 2 hours of walking on the rocks I felt quite confident (it was a mistake). while taking the last shots, I wanted to come to the side of these rocks and light them, giving the scene a bit of drama. It was long after midnight and I knew that the tide would begin to rise soon, I wanted to finish walking on the rocks not to be surprised by the water. I climbed one of the rocks wanting to come closer and it happened. My leg slid down the wet surface of the stone and I smashed into a lower rock with my chest. the light went out and I couldn't catch my breath, all I heard was the voice of my friend who lost sight of me and called my name. After a minute of lying still and trying to breath again normally, I started to check if I could move. Luckily my legs and arms were fine, which I couldn't say about my ribs which were sore. We gathered our things and moved up the cliff. At first I thought it was just a light hit that will end up with a bruise but when I came back to the car I felt that the pain in my chest was getting worse. I spent the morning in the hospital, no broken bones or internal bleeding, only internal bruising. This does not change the fact that the pain was so strong that coughing or deep breath was out of the question.
With this story I want to remind everyone, not just photographers who explore the coast, that despite the fact that we all need to calculate the risk each time we go out photographing. Never feel too confident in the field and despite the fact that I think of myself as quite experienced when it comes to night trips, accidents do happen. Another thing that Im considering is a must is to take at least one person with you. This is very important if something like this happens. I feel much better now and I think I was very lucky without breaking my ribs. If that happened then I wouldn't be able to go back up, cut out from the world at the bottom of the cliff, ALONE.
Therefore, be careful my friends!
And see you again on the coast soon!
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