Thumbnail 1 of 3, Poster, The Fall designed and sold by Bykowski.

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Poster, The Fall designed and sold by Bykowski

Artwork view, The Fall designed and sold by Bykowski

The Fall Poster

Designed and sold by Adam Bykowski

$25.69

Style

PosterHeavy poster paper, semigloss finish

$25.69

Super-easy returnsProblem? No problem. We’ll fix it, fast.

Product features

Printed on poster paper. Extremely versatile, making it perfect for reproducing both artwork and photographs
Custom sizes, based on artwork dimensions. Check size chart if self-framing
Dimensions include a 1 - 2 inch (2.5 - 5.0cm) white border to assist in framing
Shipped in protective packaging
Since every item is made just for you by your local third-party fulfiller, there may be slight variances in the product received

The Fall

I told my wife the day before exactly where I planned to do some photography alone on the next morning. We were on a great vacation trip to Yosemite and Sequioa in California. We were on the last couple days of our trip visiting Sequoia National Park in June 2008. I told my wife and daughter that daddy was going out alone to do some serious photography the next morning. So, out I went and drove up the mountain in total darkness to catch the dawn colors and sunrise at Ampitheatre Point in Sequoia. Driving up hairpin turns and switchbacks in total darkness and no street lights with just the headlights to guide you, is a real trip, believe me. Not a very special sunrise that morning, so off I went to the bridge on the way to Crystal Caverns another 30 minutes drive up the mountain. I get to the bridge we viewed the day before and the sun is up, but low in the sky. I pulled over to a small parking spot and got out. It was an exceptionally cold morning for a June day in Calilfornia, but then again I was about 5000 feet above sea level and the temperature is much cooler than at the base of the mountain. I was wearing blue jean shorts, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt over the t-shirt and I was still feeling very cold, so I went back to the vehicle and grabbed a pullover hooded sweatjacket and put that on. It helped. So there I go all by myself with full focus on this wonderous spot with crystal clear water on the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. It was a beautiful spot. I had my camera mounted on my tripod with the remote cable release connected and my Lowepro backpack with my other two lenses, filters and accessories. I clambered down the path over some rocks and thickets and got next to the river and stood on this big flat boulder. It was very level with maybe a slight incline and worked as a great set up spot. I opened the tripod legs and put the tripod down with the camera on it onto the rock. I stopped and took a long look at the river of which the edge was about 5 feet from my tripod. I stared at the river as it raged by. You see it was mid-June and the snowmelt from the mountains was creating a very fast current of whitewater on the Kaweah River. I was amazed at the clarity of the water and how fast it was rolling over all the rocks and boulders. I was excited to start shooting and didn't even want to take off my backpack. I bent over to remove the lens cap. My hands were stiff from the cold and I did not have a good grip. I squeezed the two releases on the lens cap with difficulty and when I got it off, the cap slipped out of my hand and rolled right next to the water's edge. It landed just to the left of the "V" that you see in the image here. The river's current was making the water undulate caressing the lens cap ever so slightly to make it wiggle and get swept away at any second. So, I walked carefully to the lens cap and bent over to pick it up. This is where it gets interesting. I place my left leg on a small wet spot of the boulder as I lean to pick up the lens cap. Suddenly, my left leg slips into the water. The next thing I know is I am completely sucked into this raging river. It just swallowed me up and there I was flying along with water up to my neck. I mean look at the photo. It doesn't even look deep, but I never felt the bottom with my feet. That's probably due to the fast current. I don't know. Everything else I am about to tell you happen in just seconds, but the thoughts and details take too long in real time to explain. Thoughts like me reading about how drowning is the number one cause of death in Sequoia. So there I am rolling along like a bad scene from "Deliverence" and I am in total disbelief in what situation I have been thrust in. I scream out "NO!" and have several thoughts, mostly like, I am not going to die like this. Yeah, I was scared. I reach out to the boulder I was standing on as I pass it by, just out of reach. I claw and I scratch towards the rocks and I just can't reach them. I flow by some more rocks until suddenly my right knee hits a rock underneath the water. It turns my body towards the shore slightly and allows me to grab onto a rock. I get a grip with my left hand, but the current is strong and pulls me hard arching my back and body past it, but I cling on. I feel the pain of my elbow and lower arm getting hyperextended and adrenaline must have kicked in and I thrust my body towards the rock and belly up onto a rock like a seal. I quickly stand up on the rock and look down at my feet. I was in as fast as I got out. So there I stood. Dripping. Soaked. The only dry spot was the top of my head. I'm standing there watching the water drip off me thinking," What the hell just happened?" So, I stood there for what seemed like a long time, but actually it was only about 30 seconds. I remember watching Discovery Channel and the show, "Survivor Man" or that show with Bear Grylls and how you are supposed to remove wet clothing in the cold. So there I was dripping and wanted to take off my jacket when I realized I was still wearing my Lowepro backpack with all my lenses in it. I took it off and opened up to see only a small puddle of water in it. I left if open to let it air out. Then I finally removed my sweatjacket and then my sweatshirt. And there I was in my wet shorts and t-shirt. I stood there for a moment and actually felt refreshed. I know it was supposed to be cold, but I felt pretty good. I went back to the spot where my lens cap was and it was gone. A few hundred feet down river by now probably. I then figured I might as well take some shots and record the scene of the accident so to speak. So, I spent the next 20 minutes shooting and walking around getting shots from all angles. The results are any of the images with the keywords, "Kaweah River" in them. As I walked around feeling thankful for my life, I realized it was Sunday. June 15th, 2008, Father's Day. I said enough is enough, and took the next hour to drive back down the mountain to the Comfort Inn where my wife and daughter were and what was considered home for awhile. I got to the motel room and my wife asked me what happened that I was so wet. I just said, "Ehh, I just slipped into the water." She shook her head in disgust and made some kind of comment like that's something you would do. Later that day I was in the pool with my daughter. I was just glad to be with her on Father's Day. The temperature was almost 100°F. It gets hot down at the base of the mountain in Three Rivers. My wife comes out by the pool later. She is a news junkie and told me she was listening to the news. She said some guy died in town by driving his car into a telephone pole and then a tree and that later somebody else drowned in the river. I didn't have the heart to tell her the full story of my morning. I just thought to myself, "Man, what a weird day. I guess it wasn't my time to go". The image below is one of several images I took after I climbed out of the river.

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