“Now! Doug paid out slack and somewhere above in total darkness Kerrin dynoed for an invisible hold”
I’d be lying if I said this shot was created on the fly while Kerrin Gale casually cruised her project. In fact, it's the opposite.
First I had a vision. Then I had to convince some climbers to come out in the darkness to “climb” the route. Then we had to wait for a moonless and cloudless night.
Eventually, Kerrin was hanging from the rope, Doug weighting the belayer’s end and in the gloom, I set up the lights on the ground, pointed the camera at what I thought the scene was, and shouted, “Now!” Kerrin leapt, the flashes burst and I glared at the back of the screen and tried to figure out if it was flash, ISO, aperture or shutter I needed to shift to get the exposure right. “Now!” Nope. “Now!” No, but almost... “Now!” Doug paid out slack and somewhere above in total darkness Kerrin dynoed for an invisible hold as the flashes illuminated the arches so it was like we were in a cathedral and the stars shone on perfectly and impassively.
Climber Kerrin Gale (@weebitwindy) on the Professional (28), Gateway, Blue Mountains, Australia