Hell/heaven by faroutsider
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Another revamped photograph from the 1980s, and a follow-up to my previous photograph, Hairy water.
After a three hour drive from Cape Town and a six hour hike, this is the first view of Die Hel (The Hell) in the area known as Twenty-four Rivers, Western Cape, South Africa. It is presumably so named because of its origins as a volcanic pipe spewing magma when the mountains were being formed. In its present form, this enormous rock pool is about 80 metres across with no visible bottom, even from above with the sun shining directly overhead. Getting down to the pool is a 200 metre almost vertical scramble, but the rewards are bountiful. Despite its name, this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever encountered - wild nature at its most powerful, yet so utterly peaceful... I even enjoyed the six hour hike out again.
Pentax SLR, post work in Photoshop CS3.
Craig

Previous image: Hairy water
Previous image: Hairy water

Comments (25)
boah... how amazing !
amazing my friend - great shot
I really hadn't put the photo into perspective until I saw the distant waterfalls. What an enormous expanse of beauty and awe.
Fantastic place and capture, Craig!!!
Amazing shot! yes excellent place
What a spectacular view! It looks like something out of a fantasy game - a landscape to explore. Beautiful!
What an amazing place this must be. Thanks for sharing this photo and information. It's so much fun to be able to visit the planet through others' eyes. Isn't it wonderful to know that places like this still exist? That's Heaven to me.
I like this one! Nice!
Very nice image and lighting! Really well done.
Cool! ")
Amazing view.
a very interesting photo!!!! Great view and photo!!!!
very interesting. What a view.
A beautiful capture of a wondrous place!!!!!! You must be in some kind of shape to do that much hiking and still enjoy it!!!! I can barely hike to bed!!!!! lol Fantastic work!!!!!
WOW sure makes one think so much to explore sometimes is missed wonderful capture, Craig a fav so I can go back and stare :-)
Gorgeous, almost make our Dells minuscule in comparison, although I do have to admit, they have much easier access!! Thanks much for sharing this amazing place with us,...yet another I'd not had the chance to enjoy, without your post!
Sometimes the hours of traversing into seemingly inaccessable locations are rewarded with views few will see...excellent image and presentation!
So you didn't do any diving/spelunking to see how deep the pool goes, and you didn't take your camera either? Nice pic, though, would love to visit there myself.
Food, tent, sleeping bag, spare clothes... check! Goggles, flippers, tank, weight belt (!), deep water monster-tackling kit... hmmm, unfortunately not enough space in my pack... Maybe next time.
It would be interesting to try to recreate this in Vue or Bryce.
Great done postwork, fantastic!
Quite a nice hiking in the deep of the heaven !
Wonderful place. Great shot!!
I can see why you liked that place, this is really lovely in that raw and untamed kind of way.
Cool POV