Made a foray to a couple of well known lookouts and walking trails around Katoomba and Wentworth Falls on May 11th.
Again, I regard this trip as more practice with my camera and lens, rather than a serious attempt to capture something special. But there are a couple of shots I’m reasonably happy with.
This was also the first time I have used an ND filter to soften the water movement of a waterfall. That meant, of course, switching the camera to full manual mode, and thence my main rookie error of the day: forgetting that full manual mode also includes the ISO setting – which until then I had left on auto mode! So all the images from the day were with an ISO setting of 1250. Could be worse, but still a little disappointing.
Once again, it is often the variety of textures in the landscape that captures my attention and interest. In this case, the softness of the tree foliage and other greenery contrasted with the sandstone cliffs and the delicate mistiness of the waterfall (where present).
The light varied from bright sunlight to heavy overcast and even low cloud/mist (after the shoot). I felt on the day that I did not make the most of this variation, as I was often avoiding the sky in framing the shot in order to avoid exposure blow out (not helped by the ISO setting!). I really would like a graduated ND filter to help manage the bright sky…
Most of these shots include part of the Jamison Valley, which is south of Katoomba and Wentworth Falls. The water course that forms the Falls at Wentworth Falls is the Jamison Creek.
The Weeping Rock shots are of a modest 3-4 metre drop in the Jamison Creek a little way back from the main Wentworth Falls.
