Photographing Triplet Falls
About Triplet Falls
About the falls
Triplet Falls is a set of cascades that are just near the 'Otway Fly' park and within several kilometres of Hopetoun and Beauchamp Falls. The falls are near the end of a pleasant scenic walk though the bush. The falls are awkward to photograph, as while there are many viewpoints from the walking path, they all seems to have vegitation growing between the path and the falls, partially obstructing the view.
Viewpoints
Without attempting to cross the creek or climb trees, I found that the only viewpoints were from along the track that ran beside the creek and gave partially obstructed views up the creek to the falls. There were several of these, none of them ideal in my opinion.
How I photographed the falls
What I took - what was in my kit
I took my LowePro Backpack loaded with Linhof Technorama with Velvia 50 film for the panorama, and Canon 5DSR body, Canon 24 mm TS, Canon 16-35mm and Canon 35-70mm zoom Lenses, Manfrotto 190 Tripod, and of course a range of lens wipes, spare batteries, sunscreen and bug repellant.
Techniques
I could only get side shots of the falls through the foliage. I tended to shoot short telephoto shots - i.e. around the 60-70mm range. A longer telephoto - in the range of 100-400mm might be more suited to avoid the foliage.
As with any falls, the water looks better (to me at least) with some movement in it, so a slow shutter speed helps to create this. The slow shutter speed in turn implies using a good tripod.
Other things to look out for
Nearby to Esrkine Falls are the Staw Falls, Splitter Falls, Cumberland Falls, Sheoak 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
Location: 8FHV+F8 Wyelangta Victoria ///olives.sift.chefs (-38.669330656 143.48916471)
Techniques used
Kit used
How to get there
The only way to get to the falls is via a car, from Melbourne, Geelong, or the Great Ocean Road towns of Lorne or Apollo Bay. There is no public transport to the falls. The falls are about 3 hours west of Melbourne along the Princes Highway. Past Gelong, continue to Colac where you turn left to Lavers Hill (Lavers Hill Road). At Ferguson, you turn left onto Beech Forest Road through Beech Forest village and shortly after turn right onto Binns Road. The Hopetoun Falls Rd is on your right and leads to the car park.
Not quite shown, but just in the top right of the map above is Beauchamp Falls, and just below it are Hopetoun Falls. They are only a few kilometres away. Little Aire Falls are just to the east of Triplet Falls and via the same car park.
Best time to visit
As with any waterfall, there is more water over the falls during winter, and following good rains. Reasonable rains also mean that the bush is greener. However, the falls do not change much throughout the year and summer is the most popular time to visit the coast, and most people also visit the falls in summer. That can make for crowds (from a photographer's perspective) during summer holidays and weekends. As the falls are in a small valley, the time of day doesnt matter much. I have not seen a composition that has included sunset or sunrise.
Accessability
There is a path from the car park that goes down to the water, runs along the river bank, and then returns to the car park. This is a nice open and clear dirt path.
Where to stay
The Beech Forest pub is a nice place to eat and have a beer after visiting the falls, but I dont think they have accomodation. Colac has a range of reasonable nice hotels. Apollo Bay is another 40mins south of the falls and is my pick of where to stay. It has a range of hotels and a caravan park. It also has good resturants, golf course, etc. If you are going to camp or use a caravan, then Beauchamp Falls has a lovely camp site at the car park next to the falls. This site is 'free camping' - meaning first in best dressed and no bookings. It would fit 10-15 camp sites and I have never seen more than 5 tents there. It has picnic table and toilets (Longdrop). This is also a great spot for a picnic after or before visiting the falls.