A Heroic Voyage
I’m spending my summer holidays in Skåne (the southernmost part of Sweden) and using my days to explore the prettiest landscape photo sites in the area. One of these is Hallamölla Falls, boasting the tallest waterfall in Skåne (several smaller falls with a total height of 21 meters). It is not the Iguazu, but has some photo op potential all the same.
I arrived pretty late in the afternoon, not wanting the sunlight to shine though the foliage and ruin the shot by throwing the lights off balance. By the time I arrived at the waterfalls, the sun had already set behind the tallest of the trees, giving me the shadow I was looking for.
To begin with, I took some standard shots with the falls in the background, but I wasn’t all that happy with the result. I wanted to get close to the falling water! But it was a tricky challenge, as the falls could only be reached from the water surface, there being no path on the shore. I had to make a choice. Either stick with the bland shots from afar, or remove my shoes and wade in to approach the falls. This was a difficult decision, seeing as I am mortally afraid of walking on rocks, steep places, slippery surfaces, generally anything that is not asphalt or a comfortable, wide walking path. Add the risk of falling into ice cold water and risk losing my entire equipment, and you’ll see why I hesitated. 
But the pull of the falls was too great. I pulled off my sneakers and socks and placed them on a nearby rock and hoped to see them again one day, then rolled up my jeans, strapped my backpack across my midriff and took the step into the unknown.
There were a fair amount of large rocks to step on, but I had to take a few steps into the water. In the end I preferred wading in stead of balancing on the dry rocks - the water was not altogether unpleasant and the small pebbles at the bottom felt more secure than the large, mossy, slippery rocks above the surface. All in all I spent a good fifteen minutes - well, more stumbling than wading - before reaching my preferred point of view. I did not dare move too fast: I could not risk losing my balance and toppling backwards, my camera stuff being tucked away safely in my large Lowepro backpack. Fortunately I could make use of my tripod as a walking stick.
Once there a single shot was all I needed. Using my Canon EF 28/1.8 lens and an NDx1000 filter with a shutter speed of two minutes, I got a dreamy, otherworldly look of the falls and the small pond in front of them. As in most photos, preparations took a great deal longer than taking the actual photo.
Afterwards I found myself sitting on one of the large rocks, peacefully dangling my feet almost knee deep into the cool water, feeling the strong current from the falls whirling around my toes. It was an immense feeling of accomplishment, having conquered the dangerous depths of a one-foot deep creek, battling the unnamed monsters dwelling under the surface, and returning to tell the tale - with a pretty decent photo to boot! It was a small step for mankind, but a giant leap for a clumsy chick :) It felt great to face my fears and realize that walking on some rocks isn’t, after all, the end of the world.