Issue 307: Behind the cover

Emma Key in Doolin River Cave

Back in 1999, Andy Dopson of Rubber Duck Caving Club proposed a trip to County Clare in Ireland, a first for all of us and indeed for the club. We piled five of us into Andy’s Discovery and set off on this superb adventure, making new contacts and lifelong friends. The caving was most excellent. This was the start of many visits to the area, which I organised; not every year, but quite frequent. It was once described as a drinking trip, with a bit of caving whilst we’re there.

The cover photo was taken on the 20th anniversary trip, not that we needed an excuse to pop over to County Clare. On numerous trips into Doolin River Cave I have taken pictures, some on film, then more recently in a digital format.

In this photograph, I had never stopped here to take a shot, as we were often rather wet and cold from the entrance series and then taking photos in a previous area. There are some super formations in this cave, but often the geomorphology and passage shapes are overlooked. I like this particular section of passage, as it shows off some lovely scalloping as well as the vadose development of this superb cave. There were just two of us on this trip, so lighting was tricky. We used a light stand to hold the flash at the required height and give a good level of backlight.

My normal caving camera is a Cannon EOS M6, with an 11-22mm lens. This effectively gives a 35mm shot, as it’s not a full-frame mirrorless camera. We used two Yongnuo flashes to give front and backlight. The front flash was on a lower setting of intensity and zoomed in a bit to allow more backlighting to follow through.

My thanks as always to all assistants who either rig caves, carry kit or model for the photos. Without the backing of such helpers, the photos would not happen, or be of very little aesthetic interest.

Bill Nix