There's always a temptation to clean up the mess of deadfall.

The carcasses of fallen trees and broken branches that litter the river can either be an ugly mess or delightful added detail.

At first I was tempted to move that vertical branch that you see in the top centre of the frame. It'll eventually work it's way downriver anyway to join the millions of other decaying branches.

After standing in the frigid water at -13 °C for 10 minutes, I decided that I really enjoyed the added detail of what I call 'ice bottles'.

If you look at where the thinnest twigs of the branch dip into the surface of the river you'll see the formation of these cute little 'ice bottles' and right at the moment that I composed this shot the light crept in and gave them some lovely backlight.

Amanda tells me that I stood in that river for 30 minutes, lost in my own world of frozen wonder. I was only in up to my knees so it wasn't too bad until I slipped and went in up to my sweetbreads. At that point I could only tolerate enough to get one more shot and then the delights of hypothermia were beginning to set in.

What do you think, should I have pushed that branch off to the side for a simpler composition or do you like the added detail of those 'ice bottles'?

Thanks for reading
Gavin

© All Rights Reserved

While arguing over who gets to use the 100-200mm telephoto lens, things get rather tense between Brent and me.

I'm not sure the shot is even worth the drama. Not only does he keep telling 'pork pies' about having a girlfriend but he refuses to get out of my shot once AGAIN.

Despite these unbearable hardships I still somehow manage to capture a handful of banging shots. The scenery is on such an epic scale that I had to ditch the Fuji GFX100s and go back to my Sony A7R4...but will it forgive me for cheating?

After photographing the magic of blue hour at Lake O'Hara, we get up at misery o'clock to hike back up the mountain for our last chance at a spectacular sunrise. The snow and ice are spectacular but will we get the light we hoped for? Things seem to be going well until I lose my breakfast all over the trail and Brent demands that I clean up the mess with my saggy bag of noodles.

Will his claims about having a girlfriend be proven true and will my ultra-wide angle lens be wide enough to capture the majesty of this bucket list location?

There's only one way to find out.

youtu.be/HzKlsPcJbYU

Thanks for reading
Gavin

Tags:   lake o'hara canadian rockies sunrise winter snow cold freezing fototripper

© All Rights Reserved

Grumpton, myself and Colin went on a tour of local waterfalls during this current Arctic blast and this one really delivered the goods.

Weiner Falls near Sproat Lake offers a relatively tall column of water which creates fascinating ice formations because of the freezing spray.

After a sketchy climb down into the canyon we donned our ice spikes and got stuck in. This is one of my earlier compositions.

I'll be posting a full video documenting the creation of this shot but until then, fancy a dip?

Thanks for reading
Gavin

Tags:   frozen waterfall ice cold winter arctic weiner falls

© All Rights Reserved

One of my favourite shoots of all time was the day F4 visited Cape Disappointment during a king tide storm.

The waves were gigantic and when the sun opened up for a brief visit, they really came to life.

As busy as it was, it reminded me of a New Year's Day fireworks display that I'd once witnessed in Australia. Cries of ''Ooohh'' and ''Aaaaah''could be heard pretty much constantly.

I may have even indulged in a few very un-English ''whooops'' myself.

With this shot I'd found my rhythm. After about two hours of shooting waves, I'd become quite good at predicting the behemoths.

I saw this titan rolling in and tracked it with my 100-400mm telephoto lens using auto-focus.

With my camera set to shoot high speed continuous burst, I was able to capture that moment of ultimate grandeur just as the wave reached it's peak before collapsing.

It was one of those mornings when you know you've witnessed something special.

I count myself very lucky to have seen this and even luckier to have documented such an adventure.

-----------------------------------------

Watch this shoot and the entire 10 episodes of fun and education that IS the F4 ROAD TRIP.

www.f4roadtrip.com

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   cape disappointment storm waves birds danger action drama power f4 road trip Fototripper gavin hardcastle

© All Rights Reserved

In January of 2020 I embarked on a month-long road trip with Thomas Heaton, Nick Page and Adam Gibbs - AKA 'F4'.

Little did we know that it would be our last outing for quite some time.

On this morning we headed out together with the hopes of capturing some monster waves during a king tide storm.

We definitely got more than we asked for. This is just one of thousands of frames that I shot that morning and I love it because I feel that it captures the raging fury and instant fragility of these towering waves.

Everyone was so focused on that moment before the wave reaches its breakpoint but I was transfixed by the collapse of the wave.

These imposing columns of raging water last for half a second and then they rain down like disembodied waterfalls as birds divebomb for split second snacks.

I knew it was a magical morning at the time and it remains ever more magical now that such experiences have become less accessible.

To find out more head over to the f4roadtrip.com web site and sign up to the newsletter for sneak peak previews and more.

Thanks for looking
Gavin Hardcastle

Tags:   thomas heaton nick page adam gibbs f4 waves storms storm watching washington danger

© All Rights Reserved