“Night shoots perfectly highlight the different approaches of the two main photography styles – the Quiet Observer and the Control Freak”
Sometimes climbing photography is an attempt to capture the raw and real emotion of a send or someone busting a gut trying to. They are going berko on a route and you are snapping away like crazy and hoping that you got the shot. But sometimes it is more like directing a play, staging the scene, practicing the movements, getting things just right, and then capturing a frame.
I wasn’t thinking about either when my alarm went off. I instinctively threw my body at it and felt a sharp pain in my neck. A familiar pain that doesn’t stop you from moving but makes you realise how often you use your neck. Aah, bugger, not today, it is the bouldering in Sydney day. The Black Cave day. But it’s 2020, the year of 'surprises', the year of canceled shoots, of no plans, so I should not be surprised. At least I am allowed to leave my house and go climbing, unlike half the world. Even climbing with a cricked neck felt like a privilege. Besides, if I couldn’t climb that just meant more time for taking photos.
The Black Cave is in Manly, that beautiful touristy little spot north of Sydney’s CBD. The plan was to meet in the evening after everyone had finished with whatever pays for their bills and carry on throughout the night until projects are sent.
If there is something I love about bouldering, it is the social aspect. In an hour there were half a dozen of us. Lights were shining, beta and jokes were sprayed, projects were sent as well as struggled upon, but everyone had a great time. All of that in a cave 15 minutes’ from Sydney’s CBD.
Throughout the night I took a few happy snaps to document this high-on-dopamine power screaming party. The photos were 'okay', but I was looking for more. That one killer shot which would portray the action as well as the uniqueness of the location, the juxtaposition of our little climbing bubble and people’s everyday lives in the apartments in the background. I needed more control over what was going on.
Night shoots perfectly highlight the different approaches of the two main photography styles – the Quiet Observer and the Control Freak. I am a big believer in the former, but night shoots bring out the freak in me. The combination of freezing a moving subject in the dark and the technicalities of managing the exposure and balance of the light requires a considered methodological approach and a fair bit of orchestration of everyone involved – this last bit is why having great people around always helps.
When the proper climbing was over I asked Doug if he would pull on a couple more times to get THE shot.
'Hey Doug, did I mention you will have to climb without any lights?'
'Ah, yeah, sure. Where do you want me to be?'
'How about here. That’s the hardest move, is it not?'
‘Hey Kerrin, could you hold this strobe for me, please? Yeah, exactly like that but three degrees to the right.’
The familiar nighttime photo shenanigans of trial and error ensued, and while Doug was practicing the move in the total darkness, I kept adjusting the composition, exposure and position of the strobe until, finally, everything lined up. Doug pulled on the crux for the last time, gave us a crazy cavemen look into the strobe and then in a split second, photons were frozen for eternity.
