FUNNY STORY...

What trip to Katoomba would be complete, without a visit to the Echo Point lookout and "the three sisters" - a rock formation over-looking the Jamison Valley?
According to Aboriginal dreamtime legend there were three sisters (Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo') who lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe. These sisters fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe (the Nepean tribe), but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle. Battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back. Story courtesy of wikipedia.

I had arrived for a sunset the night before this was shot and it just wasn't happening for me. For one, a rival photographer had parked himself in prime location, and secondly it was hard to take a photo for yourself with every other person asking you to take a picture of them ;P . My wife found it quite amusing, watching from the top viewing platform. In particular she had to laugh at the very rude "rival photographer" who flat out refused to take photos for anyone else. However, there was a very persistent tourist who wouldn't take no for an answer and kept buzzing around like a fly to poo. But as far as we know the rival kept his nerve and won the battle against the tourist. Poor tourist! (I actually took a photo for the guy earlier - he mustn't have been happy with mine haha).

Sunset wasn't the best to shoot on this particular day as there wasn't many clouds to diffuse the light an harsh shadows were appearing everywhere. Unfortunately, I had somewhere to be that night so I couldn't hang around for the after glow.

I returned in the morning to find the valley was covered in fog. I waited for about an hour for the fog to lift until finally I was ready to head back. I took one more look and noticed the fog was all heading away and revealing the rock formations and valley before me. By this time everyone had vanished and I was there on my lonesome. Yeeeewwww! I stayed for about another hour until everyone started turning up and this is one of the images I captured.

It's hard to get a unique shot of this location because there is only so many ways you can shoot it.You will notice the remnants of the fog out in the valley.

The Three Sisters, Blue Mountains NSW © Josh Pitt

TRANSLATE THAT FEELING...

I just wanted to do a quick post of a picture I snapped while away in the Blue Mountains.
For those of you that have visited Katoomba, the first (and maybe every) time you look out across the Jamison valley at any number of lookouts - you get that awe inspiring feeling of the sheer majesty of the scene you are looking at and sometimes it's hard to translate what you are seeing and what you are feeling through your photography.
Sometimes it pays to step back and includes a piece of foreground or a person to show scale. In the photo below I included some people on the edge of the bottom Echo Point lookout, I think it gives you an idea of how BIG these majestic canyons are.
Enjoy!
Catchya
Josh

Echo Point Lookout, Katoomba NSW © Josh Pitt

PLAN B REIGNS SURPREME...

On a recent getaway to the Blue Mountains I was hoping to get "the Three Sisters" at sunrise. Luckily we had booked accommodation in Katoomba so we were nice and close. Even though, I set the alram for 530am to make the 2 mintue drive to the Echo Point lookout. As we got outside there was a lot of fog around! And I mean a lot of fog! I thought "Great!", this would add an interesting effect to an otherwise commonly photographed subject. When we arrived there was no-one in sight. No wonder! You could not see a thing! It was quite a eerie feeling when you looked over the edge only to see a nothingness. It actually made your knees got to jelly.
We waited around for about an hour to see if the fog would lift, but with no luck (it actually took until 3pm). So not to waste our early start, we travelled to nearby Leura - to visit the Leaura Cascades. Only a short walk from the carpark, there are a series of falls. This one is nestled just of the track, before you head around and onto other lookouts looking over the Blue Mountains. 
My wife patiently waited for me to shoot for a good couple of hours and we had a bit of a joke that this image was one of the first half a dozen frames I shot and therefore we could have left and saved a lot of time. Thanks Rachy!
There were a number of things that drew me into this image. One being, the obvious one - the silky waterfall. Another being the great colour of the grreny/yellowy pool and the brown interesting rocks, in the foreground. It was quite slippery around here, so yet again I was paranoid about dropping my equipment.....again.
All in all it was a fantasic shoot and I am really happy with the final capture.

Sometimes your plans don't really go to plan, so you have to improvise and check out new locations. The key is to know your surroundings, even if your an out-of-towner. That way you can make the most of your trip away.

Catchya
Josh

Cascade Cove, Leura NSW © Josh Pitt