Upper Gledhill Falls

Nathan Dukes, 2018

Sydney, Australia

Fujifilm X-T2, 17mm, F8, ISO200, 1/15s

A friend of mine told me about a beautiful little waterfall in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park just north of Sydney where her grandfather took her fishing for yabbies. It wasn’t until I happened across some photos of the falls that I made an effort to seek it out.

Upper Gledhill Falls is characterised by a beautiful blue pool, surrounded by steep cliffs and rich green rainforest. The falls tumble of a flat sheet of rock that hangs over the basin. Time has seen the bottom half of the

2020 Nathan Dukes

surrounding cliff face collapse into the pool, creating a deep shaded overhang.

The tranquil setting is home to all manner of life, including a small water dragon who features in this image (if you can find him).

The difficulty in taking this photo was caused by the wind. In capturing a silky smooth waterfall with a long exposure the surrounding trees were blurry. Some bracketing and technical photoshop work results in this stunning image.