This was the prize. Years of coming to this spot to see the waterfall that passes through an old mine shaft, finally yielded an incredible site. After years of droubt I was surprised after 15 or so back to back atmospheric rivers hit the area. I set out to see if I could capture the rare sight of this waterfall flowing both through the mineshaft and original path of the falls simulataneously, along with capturing an even more rare sight, a swirl that forms when the conditions are just right. It causes the water to literally fall in a 360 degree pattern before hitting the floor. I created a YouTube video giving you a behind the scenes look while exploring the dedication, perservearance, and fails it took to eventually capture this shot. If interested you can see the backstory of this shot here: https://youtu.be/9EksGuRxD20
Taken with Mavic 3 Cine in panorama mode because the waterfall was so massive and the canyon so narrow. Surrounded by giant California Oak trees, I had no room to get a wider shot. I cropped this from the original panorama.
Exit data: RAW, ISO 100, 12.29mm, f/5.6, 0.6 sec. Edited in lightroom with a nice cinematic style color grade to spice it up a bit and enhance the natural colors of the canyon.
This is from Blackstar Canyon in Southern California. This spot is just miles from Disneyland and even with how popular it is, it is still almost completely unheard of.