Sometimes the best shots are where you least expect to find them. Adam Taylor recalls an unusual landscape subject, and how he came across it in the wilds of Tasmania's Cradle Mountains.
I took this shot at Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania. I was there on a three-day lifestyle shoot and based out of Cradle Mountain Lodge. Although it was November, on the final afternoon of shooting it started to snow heavily. The snow added a beautiful dimension and atmosphere to the shoot.
The next morning I got up early to shoot some personal landscapes before we were due to fly out. After about an hour of walking my feet were numb from the snow and I had nothing. The sun had come out and everything was very blue-sky picture perfect like the postcards in the tourist shops – not at all the mood or sensibility I wanted to communicate from this hauntingly beautiful part of the world.
I was about to call it quits when I decided to detour into the densely forested ridge. The going was tough but I eventually pushed my way through the snow-laden branches and bracken into an open clearing. I looked up and there was the shot!
Low cloud had started to drift through the tops of the trees and there were patches of sunlight against the higher branches. I had my Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III with a 16-35mm 2.8L lens attached. I quickly set my tripod and attached the body and lens for the unusual angle.
Click – click - click. I took three exposures in about 10 seconds, slightly adjusting my tripod and zoom each time. Then the wind picked up and clumps of dislodged snow began to rain down on the camera and me. The lens was now covered in slowly melting snow. The atmosphere had changed in an instant. The moment was gone. This image was the first of the three I took.
DETAILS: CANON EOS 1DS MARK III WITH CANON 16-35MM 2.8L @ 20MM. f/16 @ 1/30s, ISO 125.
Photo by Adam Taylor.