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Images of Cradle Mountain area

After an all-nighter on the Summit of Cradle Mountain I was privileged enough to witness a dawn like no other I had seen. It was a photographers heaven and I knew that it would be many climbs to come before I witnessed something like this again. This was a moment from my dreams.

But there was a problem... I was so overwhelmed by it all that I couldn't seem to steady myself long enough to take a decent photo. Knowing this may well be the only time I ever see a dawn like this from such an amazing place seemed to flood panic into my mind. It got worse with the threat of the moment going past and none of its glory being captured.

But amongst the adrenalin and rush of blood something stood me still and told me to breathe. I turned my back on it all and just tried to still my mind. Then something in my head said 'what stands out' and in this case it was the cloud around little horn. So after a little time spent calming myself and a little bit of climbing I found a place for my tripod at the edge of the mountain and set off a 30 second exposure. Then it came up on the screen on the back of my camera...

I don't think I took another shot for 30mins or so (after shooting non stop since 3pm the day before) I just sat there and enjoyed the moment.

I had taken an image that truly represented how I felt about what I was experiencing.

I feel as if the work of the great Peter Dombrovskis guides many photographers and certainly has me. He influences what we do and somehow he lives on through it all. He is gone but maybe what motivated Peter is still alive. Maybe in our quest for good light and exploration we all share a little bit of the Spirit of Dombrovskis.

I recently drove to Hobart to meet with Liz Dombrovskis the wife of Peter to ask her face to face for her permission/blessing for the use of the Family name in this image. She was happy for me to use it and was also happy to share a few wonderful stories about Peter. What an amazing man.

'Spirit of Dombrovskis'

2 Pandani in Cradle Mountain

approaching Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

Cradle Mountain creek with moss and pandani

Cradle Mountain creek

Cradle Mountain doing its best volcano impersonation!

Creek lined with Pandani, Cradle Mountain

Creek lined with Pandani, Cradle Mountain

Stunning and still morning at Dove Lake in Cradle Mountain national park.

Dawn and fog at Cradle Mountain

Dove Lake boat shed under snow

Dove Lake from the Face track

"Being a photographer is always such a good excuse to be out in conditions like this. These moments are rare and normally make me nervous. But this time I was so glad (and busy playing and sliding on the snow near by) that I didn't care what results I got with my camera. I was just so so happy that I got to experience these few hours of pure Joy."
Aaron Jones

Mossy creek with Pandani in Cradle Mountain National Park.

Mossy creek with Pandani

Pandani lined mountain stream in Cradle Mountain after a heavy snowfall.

Mountain stream in winter

Pandani grove in Cradle Mountain

Pandani grove, Cradle Mountain

Pandani in Cradle Mountain landscape

pandani LLG 0843

Snowgum in winter

Tadpoles in a mountain lake, Twisted Lakes, Cradle Mountain. The orange colour is from the tannin.

Tadpoles in a mountain lake

The Pandani family

walkers approaching Cradle Mountain just before Kitchen Hut

walkers approaching Cradle Mountain

Wallaby and joey in the early morning light in Cradle Mountain (near Waldheim area). They sprung away straight after this picture was taken. Lovely Pandani in the background.

Wallaby and joey

The famous Dove Lake boat shed on a gloriously cold winter morning.

Winter sunrise at Dove Lake

These guys have it tough... finding some food in these conditions is no easy task. Their nose must get so cold :-)

Wombat eating in the snow