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Into the depths, for the second time.

Paul Kowalski

I strongly believe that places have an affect on us. I will visit some locations, and I don't feel comfortable, like I am somehow intruding. But when I visited Karijini National Park for the first time in 2014, it felt like a prefect fit, or a long time friend. I knew this was a place I could re-visit again and again.


On that first trip, I visited Hancock Gorge early one morning, and the experience has stuck with me ever since, always will. Although I took plenty of photographs of different vantage points that day, I didn't take a photograph at Kermits Pool that felt like a missed opportunity. By the time I really considered this, we had already left the national park. I have been over this scenario in my head many times, wondering why I did that. But I have learned over the years that it's all good to leave things to go back and see.


Kermits Pool in all its glory in 2023
Kermits Pool in all its glory in 2023

It would take me 10 years to get myself back down to this location, but on this occasion I was able to take a lot more time down here, waiting hours for the light and even re-visiting the next day just to make sure. Early one morning during this stay, I headed back to Hancock Gorge with this photograph in mind and the light was pretty much all I had hoped for. Sitting here, behind my panoramic camera, listening to the water fall run, with my eldest daughter by my side was all I had hoped for. We watched the light change as the sun rose and together tried to understand when it might be at its best for this photograph.


I am pushing long exposures for this one. Some of the earlier photographs on this morning were in the three minute exposure range, and this comes with a level of risk versus reward. Exposing film for that period of time comes with a few key areas that need to be managed and thought through, such as reciprocity failure. But if you get it right, the results show a scene of merged light and movement, where the light over that time changes and enhances the outcome, and things like moving water become smooth and sleek.


As the session came to an end, I was pretty certain I had nailed something worth keeping, and we left with a certain sense of achievement but also an experience to remember. But in addition to that, once we arrived home, and several months later viewed the processed film on the light box, we were taken straight back to this amazing place on this special day, regardless of being on the other side of the country.


Location: Kermits Pool, Hancock Gorge, Karijini National park, Pilbara, Western Australia.

Film: Fuji Velvia ISO 100 120 roll film, no filters.

Time of day: 7:00 am 2023.




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