Brink of Crystal Brook Falls, Victoria, Australia

(Click image to enlarge)

Absolutely no other sound penetrates the all enveloping sound of crashing water in close proximity to a fast flowing waterfall. That's oddly disorienting when combined with dizzying heights.

I previopusly photographed the brink of this waterfall several times. Those photographs included the rocks on the rightmost one third of this image. I desperately wanted to capture a more dramatic view looking down the 200 meter (656 foot) vertical column of falling water, but the physical situation made it seem too ridiculous to consider. Using a tripod was out of the question. The contorted position I had to be in to avoid falling, along with the size and weight of a conventional mirrorless camera, would make it impossible to hold the camera while looking at the image it was capturing. Then it occurred to me that using my cell phone might work. It would decrease the risk of falling to my death in exchange for much lower image quality. In addition, if it slipped from my outstretched fingers I'd rather lose my phone than my camera. It all seemed like a fair compromise.

The above photograph replaces my first attempt to capture this image, made two years earlier. The high shutter speed of the phone in the first attempt made the water look frozen, as if it was ice. That always bothered me but I assumed it was the best I could do with a phone. Since then I learned that a "long exposure" camera setting, specifically for situations like this, has been available on most phones, including mine, for years. I just didn't know it when I captured that first photograph! Since I was back at the same place and there was more water flowing over the waterfall than there was previously, I had no choice but to try again.