I hadn't been back to Hanging Lake since it almost burned over two years ago, and booked two reservations to assess the damage and shoot the waterfalls on film.
The waterfalls get mobbed during the summer, and Covid-era restrictions that limited the number of hikers are long-gone. So I booked the first reservation of the day at 6:30AM and was at the checkpoint ready to start at 6:15. By booking it the steep trail (as fast as I could with a tripod and a backpack full of medium-format gear), I had about 20 minutes with the falls to myself to set up and shoot.
All the medium-format color shots were on Velvia 50 with my Rolleiflex 6006 and a Schneider 140-280mm PQ Variogon lens.
The sun hadn't yet peeked above the valley walls, so light was nice and even on all the frames. I also took a roll of 35MM Velvia 50 and a 50MM lens up too to get a bit wider of a perspective.
With those in the bag, I didn't bother lugging much of a setup when I came back with friends a week later. I just took a Rollei 35SE, a red filter and a roll of SFX 200.
So much of Hanging Lake's attraction is the clarity of the blue-green lake, and that gets lost in the black-and-white frame. But it was a fun experiment to see how it turned out.
I'm planning on heading back in autumn to see if I can time some of the orange foliage on the trees surrounding the falls. Thanks to Nice Film Lab who did a solid job on the E-6 development and scanning for the Velvia.