Bucket Shot!

It all starts with a vision a concept of a plan. Since coming to this country I remember visiting Great Falls National Parks and being so amazed on how beautiful nature can be. The fast water rapids that go through the rocks of this gorgeous waterfall is a site that takes your breath away. I remember being at such an awe of this place as I had never seen anything like it. I been visiting this wonderful park ever since. One day as I was at the park I was there in the middle of the day and the sun was quite harsh and I saw a photographer there looking quite frustrated while trying to capture his photo. It made me curious as to what his frustration was my guess now is that his photo wasn’t quite coming out how he wanted it and that’s where my vision began. A couple blogs back I mentioned a big YouTuber name Peter McKinnon who uploaded a video called “the bucket shot” and like I said in that blog I saw this video and I remember being so amazed with the shot he took but what I found more interesting was his journey into capturing that photo. That video inspired me so much so I will link it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r25IWquxe9s

This video inspired me so much that I went out to the store and bought my first dslr. My first thought was let me go to Great Falls and capture that beautiful waterfall. I went in the middle of the day with the sun being at its peak and the light being super harsh. I began to see why this photographer was so frustrated with his results. The sun is a photographers best friend for sure but it can also be our worst enemy. There’s a time frame in the morning when the sun light its at its best once that sun starts to get higher it starts to kill and destroy any colors in a set scene. As I began to learn photography I started to learn when the best times to catch the best light were which helped plan this shot quite a bit. In that same blog I talked about fear and how its hindered me throughout the years. I said the day I get my bucket shot would be the day I knock fear down. I feel like I finally achieve this shot and here is how I made it happen.

I knew I wanted my first bucket shot to be of my favorite park in my area. I was determined to make it happen and while yes it helped to keep going back the concept of this shot didn’t actually came to be until earlier this year. It happen after a visit during the summer I saw a couple at the bottom of an overlook close to the water and I got very curious. My first thought was how do I get down there and what kind of view would I be able to achieve. All great shots start with a vision and a curiosity that takes you to push your limit and make it happen. I found the path that led to the bottom of the waterfall it was in plane sight and that’s why anyone can easily miss it. I started down the path and quickly realized that getting to the bottom was going to be a lot harder than I anticipated. To get to the bottom you have to climb down a couple of rocks to get to the bottom you have to be so careful as any miss step and you can get seriously hurt. It was definitely a task, I remember that day was super hot I believe it was 96F outside. I got to the bottom and it was still early in the morning the light was still soft enough and I got the shot. I thought at that moment “wow this is the best shot I got of Great Falls so far”. I started to make my way back going down was difficult but the way up was much worse. The climbing wasn’t easy and since it was super hot outside it made it much worse. Once I reach the top I needed some water I felt light headed and almost pass out. It was all worth it once I got home and exported the photos I saw the the way the waterfall look and that’s where my brain started working and I started thinking how could I make this look much better. The original is still one of my favorite shots but the lack of color bug me and I knew I could make it better.

The concept of my bucket shot was born and my first thought was how can I add color to this shot. My first thought was sunrise and sunset they both add color to the sky but I needed to see how a sunset looked over Great Falls. I went at sunset to see how the pictures turn out and while yes the sky look beautiful there’s something about sunrise colors that make the sky look very unique. So sunrise it was, now the next challenge was finding ideal weather conditions. I knew cloudy weather would definitely not work it had to be a clear morning little to no clouds would be ideal. I thought that would be the most challenging part of this plan but the most difficult part was actually working around the time the park opens. During the summer I couldn’t get the ideal colors in the sky because the park opens at 7am and the sunrise during the summer happens at around 6am. This was a big problem because normally when the sun starts to come out you only have about 20 to 30 min to get the ideal color in the sky. So I knew once the time change and the sunrise starts to happen that would be the ideal time for this to happen. On Monday, I saw the ideal weather condition and the ideal sunrise time so I knew this had to happen then. I got up very early and headed out worried because the sunrise was at 7:09am so I was hoping to be there before 7 hoping the park was open so I could start walking to the spot and start climbing down and be at the bottom before the sun started to rise. During this time of the year the sun rises quite fast so I knew I will be racing against time. I got there at around 6:50 worried there will be someone there to tell me I had to wait or that I couldn’t go in yet but there was no one there so I went in parked and grabbed my equipment and started walking.

I started climbing down and was there before the sun even began to rise. The lighting was perfect and I started to set up. The one challenge I had this time around was an issue i’m having with my right knee I been having a lot of pain. So I was taking my time and making sure I was being careful just so I wouldn’t hurt myself. I set up framed my picture saw the colors in the sky change and snap the photo. There it was my vision my plan come to life I am so happy with how it turned out everything went like it was suppose to go and here is the results. This shot shows my perseverance and my hard work. This is one of my favorite shots and one of those moments where I got the upper hand on fear. My battle has been on going but I have to keep throwing those jabs and this is one of those moments of glory. This is my best shot of the year and I hope you love it as much as I do.