#00165, Swirlpool

The photo Swirlpool was taken at Kondalilla Falls in Queensland. Being at the bottom of a canyon it was quite dark and my usual preference for using an aperture of f64 called for a three-minute exposure, after allowing for reciprocity.

I made my usual two exposures then thought about what I had done and what the result would look like. I timed the moving bubbles on the surface of the water and decided that my long exposure may actually blur the bubbles to the point where the swirling affect was largely, or even totally, lost.

Below we see the result of my first exposures.



Just to be on the safe side I exposed one more sheet of film using a wider aperture and a ten-second exposure.

As predicted, in the longer exposure the streaks have disappeared into a blur, which doesn't show the affect I had in mind at all. The result of the shorter exposure was to clearly show the streaks caused by the bubbles floating on the water's surface. A vast improvement in the image.

Kondalilla National Park, QLD

Technical: Tachihara 5x4 field camera, 90mm, 30s, f45
Keywords: swirlpool kondalilla falls queensland bottom canyon f64 reciprocity bubbles water blur swirling below streaks national park qld large black white landscape lakes ponds