Rodney Campbell's Blog

Tired but eager to see what the day brought us my daughter and I headed out on the 15 minute drive to the Weano Recreation Area where I’d been the previous morning to visit Hancock gorge.

The Girl & The Valley

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 2.5 sec at f/13, ISO 800

Karijini National Park is one of the largest and most photogenic national parks in Australia. The park is famous for its sheer gorges, waterfalls, sparkling rock pools and cool swimming holes. The park is all about exploring serpentine tunnels of marbled rock, clambering over boulders, squeezing through narrow tunnels, inching your way along ledges, paddling through subterranean waterways and descending deep into chasms which have been eroded into the landscape over two billion years.

We were arriving here relatively late (well after sunrise) so instead of heading to the lookouts first we parked in the main carpark and headed straight down into the gorge instead. Well not before showing my daughter where the emergency radio was at the top and when and how to use it if we (I) got into trouble down in the gorge.

The Karijini National Park information and walk trail guide indicates that Weano Gorge is a Class 4 walk and the Handrail Pool a Class 5.

“Class 5 trails are difficult and a high level of fitness is required. Trail markings are minimal, and steep sections with vertical
drops are common. Expect to encounter natural hazards including large boulders; pools of water; slippery, wet rocks; and narrow, high ledges“.

I’d be taking my 10 year old daughter down here so we needed to be careful. As it turned out she was more than equipped for the trek – in hindsight she should have joined me for the walk into Hancock gorge (another Class 5) the previous morning as well :).

By 7:45AM we were down the bottom and well advanced on our trip along the bottom of Weano Gorge. It was also a good opportunity to stop at this spot and take our first photographs down here.

The shot up top of this post gives a good sense of scale of these gorges. Towering red cliffs rise way above us and narrow cracks lead us further into the gorges. It’s a truly amazing place.

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Weano Bend

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 15 sec at f/13, ISO 100 x 5 Frames

Above we have a five (5) frame stitched panorama taken at this bend in the gorge. Hopefully it gives you a sense of what you have to scramble over and through to make your way down here. The wide angle is somewhat deceptive – I’m probably a couple of metres above where my daughter is standing below.

Weano Recreation Area

Weano Recreation Area

After a very very full day the day before it was a struggle to be breaking both myself and my daughter out of bed for yet another busy day.

I’d already been up and shot from before sunrise till well after sunset the day before, not to mention the two hour drive back from Hamersley in the middle of the night for my daughter and I.

Lost in Karijini

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1/80 sec at f/5.6, ISO 450

Still when you’re in one of those once in a lifetime places you have to make every second count and sleep be damned :)… My daughter decided to accompany me this morning to make the trip down Weano Gorge (a grade 5 walk – which is the highest you can go without guides, ropes and abseiling/climbing gear!). It was fantastic she was going to join me – it’s always good to have some company when out shooting – plus I’d get to share yet another incredible location with my daughter.

We actually slept in on purpose, which was a shame because this was the first day in probably months that Karijini saw clouds in the sky. Sunrise was at 6:15AM but we missed making use of the nice colour at an epic gorge location. Still we were very tired so when I crawled out of bed, breaking the sleep from my eyes, all I could do was go get my camera and take a few handheld shots as the colour was fading from the sky.

The shot up top up top was the view from our campsite looking westwards away from the rising sun at 6:35AM.

Below our campsite just before my daughter and I left to head to our morning session at Weano Gorge and it’s famous Handrail pool.

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 1/30 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

My daughter and I were on our way back to the Karijini ECO Retreat from Hamersley Gorge when we arrived at the junction of Karijini Drive and Bunjima Drive which heads out to the ECO Retreat and Weano Recreation Area. This is one of the two main entry points into Karijini National Park.

Of course the skies were clear and the stars were out in a brilliant array (as they were most nights we were travelling). I didn’t have any lens wider or faster than my 24-70/2.8 with me today so that’s what I had to work with here.

The Junction

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm, 20 sec at f/2.8, ISO 8000

We’d just driven for 75 minutes to get here from Hamersley and we still had about half an hour to go to get to the ECO Retreat where were staying. My daughter wasn’t all that pleased with me stopping here at the junction of two roads in the middle of nowhere and taking some shots, but hey she’s come to expect that of me by now :)…

In the foreground we have Mount Bruce (Aboriginal name is Punurrunha) which is the second highest peak in Western Australia. Above the Milky Way streaks out of the junction and over head.

The end of a very busy day which started with a sunrise shoot at Hancock Gorge, then a side trip to Tom Price, then to Hamersley for the afternoon and finally time to head back to camp and hopefully a good nights rest before getting up before sunrise and doing it all again tomorrow! :).

The sun was setting so it was really time for us to be leaving now.

Hamersley Folds

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm, 3 sec at f/11, ISO 100

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

To be clear I really didn’t want to be leaving… I could easily have spent many more hours here and shot some milky way and star trails over the gorge in the night.

However there was a particularly tricky bit we had to negotiate on the way in and I wasn’t keen on trying to get my young daughter past it in the dark :). Plus we still had a two (2) hour drive in the dark back to camp over mostly dirt roads to negotiate. Plus keeping my ten year old daughter out all night probably wouldn’t be a great idea – especially as we were planning to get up early (before sunrise) the next day and explore Weano gorge and the Handrail Pool together :).

Gorgeous Hamersley

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm, 2 sec at f/11, ISO 100

So with great reluctance we began making our way back down the gorge to the bottom of the steps coming down from the car park above.

Of course on the way there were so many spots where I wanted to stop and take just one more shot… So it took us nearly half an hour to make our way back to the car…

Stripes & Trunks

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1 sec at f/11, ISO 100

This image with my daughter and I gives you a great feel for the way these crazy folds of rock appear here in Hamersley. I bumped the ISO to 800 to increase the shutter to try and reduce any subject (i.e. us) motion in the image. The steps back up the cliff to the car park above are just to the left of us.

Deep Iron

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm, 1/4 sec at f/10, ISO 800

As we were climbing the steps back up out of the gorge I turned around once more to see the amazing folds of rock with the many coloured layers. I decided to head over to the edge of the cliff here and shoot “one more shot” straight across the gorge towards the layers and curves on the other side.

Layer Squash

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm, 2.5 sec at f/11, ISO 100

The image at the top of the post was actually the last shot I took here at Hamersley. In this case it’s a stitched panorama of the gorge comprising of seven vertical frames taken at 44mm. It’s almost 6PM now and the sun had already set behind me.

In the panorama you can see the amazing gorge walls on the other side all the way down to the curving water flows and waterfalls below.

I was sad to be leaving this truly amazing place but it was almost dark by the time we’d packed ourselves into the car and were heading off for the long drive back to camp.

Most people who visit Karijini probably don’t make the effort to come all the way out of the park to Hamersley but it is a definite opportunity lost. If you are ever out this way do make sure you set aside time to come here.

Before coming to Hamersley I’d see the all to familiar classic front on view of the Spa Pool. As soon as I arrived here I shot that view myself. However once I’d taken “that shot” it was time for a retake, a time to look for something different (for me at least).

Hamersley Reflective

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 26 mm, 2.5 sec at f/16, ISO 100

This wasn’t so much about trying to be truly original – I mean with so many billions of new photos being taken literally everywhere on the planet (and off) each day how can you possibly expect to have something truly “unique”. However my personal take is as long as a place is “new” to me and I’m trying to produce the best compositions I can for myself then I’m happy :)…

So I went looking for a different perspective on this famous little pool in the Hamersley ranges.

Clambering up the layers of rock and over the top I’m shooting back down the gorge from above the spa pool. That little waterfall at the bottom of this image actually isn’t the waterfall flowing into the spa pool (that little entrance is in about the centre of this image). With the late afternoon sun hitting the far gorge wall in the distance we get this nice natural golden glow on the water behind my daughter waiting patiently for me down below.

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Liquid Gold

NIKON D750 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 5 sec at f/14, ISO 50

This shot was taken only ten minutes before sunset. We were just about to start making our way back out the gorge (there was a particularly tricky bit we had to negotiate on the way in and I wasn’t keen on trying to get my young daughter past it in the dark :)).

I’m not exactly sure what caused me to stop, turn around and look back. Perhaps this retake is simply an act of serendipity. A magical place, this tighter view with the long end of the 24-70 looking back along the rocks towards the spa pool in the distance.

In post processing this is actually a blend of three exposures taken at 0, -1 and -2EV.