Photographing Swallow Cave Falls
Swallow Cave Falls aka Upper Sheoak Falls
About Swalow Cave Falls
Swallow Cave (Upper Sheoak) Falls is about 6km from the town of the hoilday / beach town of Lorne. The falls are really what I would call a cascade of 4 o 5 mini-drops. During summer, these falls reduce to a trickle (as in the above photo). After heavy rains though a torrent poors down and it can look quite nice. I have cropped the bulk of the cascades out of the above photo. The falls are not far from the car park. They are also on a nice 7km walk that takes in Castle Rock. A picnic spot is nearby to make an outing oof a visit here. This all makes the falls a reasonably busy tourist attraction, so if you are going to photograph the falls, try to get there early and after good rains.
The Love Lorne website provides a nice map of Lorne, its district, and the various walking and waterfalls in the area.
Viewpoints
There is really only one main choice:
- From the Lower area, on the river. The photograph above was taken from the Lower Area. In this case the weather was overcast and the sky just a uniform grey. While I love a bright blue sky contrasting with the lush green to found around waterfalls - I dont like grey at all, so I composed the shot to crop it out. As mentioned above, I also had to crop out the rather nice pool at the bottom due to the amount of branches and sticks that had been brought down by a storm.
How I photographed the falls
What I took - what was in my kit
I took my LowePro Backpack loaded with Canon 5DMkII body, Canon 24-105mm zoom, Manfrotto 190 Tripod, and of course a range of lens wipes, spare batteries, sunscreen and bug repellant. I tended to shoot 28-55mm depending on how tight I was cropping.
Techniques
As with any waterfall, I want to blur the water but not the surrounding vegitation. That means using a long exposure and a tripod. I could have used NR filters, but in this case I didnt.
Other things to look out for
Nearby to Sheoak Falls are the Esrkine Falls, Staw Falls, Splitter Falls, Cumberland Falls, Upper and Lower Kalimna Falls, Won Wondah Falls, Henderson Falls, Cora Lynn cascades and finally the Phantom Falls. In addition for waterfalls, there is the is the beach, surf, and a range of tourist attractions.
The area is a temperate rainforest, with a range of interesting plants and wildlife. Jenny loves photographing the various fungi that can be found in these places
Location
Swallow Cave falls is also called Upper Sheoak Falls, and as this name implies, it is just upstream from Sheoak Falls.
Location: CXM7+V4 Lorne, Victoria //////eagerly.stencil.typo 38°33'55.1"S 143°57'46.1"E (-38.5653, 143.9628)
Techniques used
Kit used
How to get there
The best way to get to the falls is by car. It can be accessed by bike or walking from the town of Lorne. The falls are about 150km from Melbourne (2.5 hours drive) and about 6km from the town of Lorne by road, or about 4km by foot.
If taking a car from Lorne, take the Great Ocean Rd south west from Lorne towards Wye River. After about 4km there is a a bridge over the Sheoak Creek and a car park just over the bridge. Park here. The falls are about 1.5km up the walking path.
If walking from Lorne, I would recommend taking the Allenvale Rd. I also recommend the Love Lorne map or a local walking map though.
Best time to visit
These are falls that need water running over them, so post reasonable rains is best. This is likely to mean late winter / early spring. During this time the local vegitation is also greener and richer. During the summer months this can become a reasonably busy tourist spot - meaning that you might have to wait 15min to get the shot you want without people in the shot.
Accessability
The falls are located near the Sheoak falls and are just along a short path. This path was not terribly wide, and did have some steps in it. It was fine for a nice gentle walk, even with camera gear, but would not suit a wheelchair or most bikes.
Where to stay
Lorne is an obvious choice here. It ia lovely town with many attractions, good hotels, a nice caravan park, and lots of nice and inexpensive resturants. If travelling in the summer / holiday period though, you will need to book.
Slight west of Lorne is Apollo Bay. I also recommend this for accomodation. The same can be said of Apollo Bay. It is further from these falls though.