It seems like every time I find a great place, I keep returning to it for many weeks in a row until I’m satisfied I’ve explored it in detail. My current such place is Svansjöbäcken, so that’s where I found myself this morning. There was a bit more water thanks to the rain/snow earlier this week, but more water meant that I wasn’t able to hop from side to side to find the best angles. Maybe it would’ve otherwise been possible in some spots, but the water’s edge was icy and the only thing more slippery than a wet cliff is an icy cliff. But there were plenty enough opportunities on this side of the brook so I didn’t feel like the pictures would be better on the opposite side.
I can’t believe what a beautiful day it was… just blue skies, everywhere. It’s not all good in this place, actually, because the contrast becomes hard to work with and it’s not the kind of contrast that I wanted to conquer with HDR either – sunshine and waterfalls just don’t mix in my book. But it works for some small spots of running water so again, I had plenty of reasons to take pictures. Plenty enough that five hours just flew by! And I only covered a few hundred meters, there and back again to see what the changing light is doing to the scenery and a coffee break to try and take in all the beauty around me.
I think it was a lucky trip for me. I dropped my bubble level without noticing it, but I found it again when I followed the same route back. I could’ve dropped it in a crevice between the rocks, or the brook, or in the long grass… but instead it had fallen on a cushion of frozen grass and was just sitting pretty and waiting for me. And then when I was changing filters, I heard a sound that no photographer wants to hear – something crashing on the rocks. But it was only the filter holder, which rolled into the water and I was quick enough to fish it out before it floated down the waterfall.
Can’t argue with a day like this!