We had been photographing from this site for awhile, when Bill looked through the viewfinder of his camera to take a photo-- only to see, MY camera backpack going over the waterfall! He always carried my photo gear and had put it down on the bridge and walked away from it when the wind picked it up. Chaos ensued, I yelled that nobody should go into the water, but in the end, our heroic guide and instructor, Páll @palljokull was able to retrieve the backpack, floating on its back in the water. Good thing Bill had the rain cover pulled out over the entire backpack protecting it. And it was all fine, if a little wet. If it had flowed past this one relatively flat section, you can already see here the beginning of more waterfalls it would have gone through, and eventually into the ocean! Too bad Bill didn't push the shutter when he saw the backpack going over the falls -- we could have sold it to Lowepro for them to use in advertising.
Too bad Bill didn't push the shutter when he saw the backpacking as it was going over the waterfall, or Pall when he found it floating on its back going round and round and floating -- we could have sent it to Lowepro for their ad campaign: "Buy Lowepro to protect your camera gear. Withstands the pressure of blowing off a bridge in enormous wind, plunging great height in a waterfall, and floating on its back!" (Thanks, @Darylo for the convincing demo you gave us on our Appalachian photo trip!)
I was too exhausted last night to link to Taffy's photo: http://365project.org/taffy/365/2017-03-25
@squamloon -- Lowepro, and as you see from the narrative above this comment, we all froze and didn't take a photo during all this chaos. Surprisingly, it started and ended within 4-5 minutes!
It is amazing as I see your image to think of the beautiful scene we were in with the high drama unfolding for us. I love the way you've captured the waterfall and the golden tones of the mountain beyond. Looking at this, I get a slightly sinking feeling from the 'backpack incident' while at the same time, admiring what an amazing setting we were in. Great landscape! Amazing story behind it!
What an awful experience, so glad all turned out OK. This shot appeals to me with the combination of landscape and water. No wonder you had a great time.
Wow what a near disaster which thankfully was resolved by your guide's great efforts!! I have that Lowepro bag but not sure I will be bringing it to Chicago or not. Beautiful scene you have captured - no one would guess that something so dramatic was going on!! Fav!
@darylo I see now that our bag is discontinued! Wah. They have replaced it with a "trek" which has better coloring, but NOT what I want. I have put in a bid on ebay for a blue one now (I'd like to make my blue one a travel bag only--it's so useful!). And I put in a bid for the smallest one so I can really use that one locally and not stick out so much! ha. I'm sad that this line has changed, but everything changes.
@darylo -- i think that's why mine was so cheap (less than half price). I do have the single camera and extra lens version and love that one. But we saw our guide's newer version -- a bit wider, a bit larger, but best of all, his flap with all the pockets faces into the bag and is easily accessible while ours faces outward and is therefore, unreachable when the bag is open or has the cover on it. And the solution to not being too bright is to pull the black cover over it!
Too bad Bill didn't push the shutter when he saw the backpacking as it was going over the waterfall, or Pall when he found it floating on its back going round and round and floating -- we could have sent it to Lowepro for their ad campaign: "Buy Lowepro to protect your camera gear. Withstands the pressure of blowing off a bridge in enormous wind, plunging great height in a waterfall, and floating on its back!" (Thanks, @Darylo for the convincing demo you gave us on our Appalachian photo trip!)
I was too exhausted last night to link to Taffy's photo: http://365project.org/taffy/365/2017-03-25