The Cyclops Boulder, V5. Such a fun problem, a bit of a sketchy topout!! - mousey

That is one of the coolest boulders I have seen. Must get over there for atrip one day. - devlin66

Just fantastic! Great problem, superb setting, top photo. Does it go straight up or to the right? - westie

Nice shot, but I think id like it more if the edges of the boulder were not slightly cropped. - oweng

Credit must go to Jessie Davis for taking the photo, and for showing me around the place. A clear highlight from 3 weeks in south island, and I'm not even into bouldering! Adrian - ado_m

Obviously a great location and great bouldering to be had, but from a photographic perspective ... I like the off-centreing of the theme boulder to show distant vista. The action and the ground yet to be climbed tell a 'story', [and re Westie comment above I think it likely that the route goes up rightward due the evident scuffing on those pockets, though it may also have a LH variant!]. I gave the low star marks because the cropping top, left, and bottom crueled (for me), what would otherwise have been an excellent shot. - IdratherbeclimbingM9

looks bloody brilliant there! minor point.....for bouldering shots it's nice if you can get the mat in shot as it adds perspective/context. - maxdacat

obviously my rating is slightly biased....... re: everyone's comments - i must say that a) i didn't really frame this wit any great intentions/expectations i just pointed and clicked so needless to say i was pretty happy with the results! and b) there was no mat involved so not much point in including the base of the boulder (floor). I tried walking backward to get the whole rock in but really couldn't be bothered. glad you liked it. cheers adrian that was a good (albeit hot!) session at the Hill - jesse

I reckon it's top bro! I'd go there tomorrow if I could and look for that great shot, what a mad looking problem. You're a lucky cat! - Bob Saki

Yeah, but at what angle are his draws hanging at, that's what I'm dying to know. And from that can we calculate in which hand the camera was held and what the photographer had for breakfast? Technical comment: I like the pic, a lot. - orwell

Very nice picture mate. I also think you really need to tell us what you had for breakfast. - nikolisper

Horizon and trees suggest the angle is good. I knew another Darren Williams once, pretty good a footy but then he became a cop and everyone wanted to shirt front him. It got so bad with having to bail him out of on field fights that we were all glad we he got transferred for work reasons. He was fatter than the Darren in this photo, would have pulled the cliff over if he wanted to get up this one...can anyone tell I'm bored and waiting for a flight? - rod

Cool photo but what's the name of the route :o seriously just wondering if it's actually a trad route....he looks pretty minimally equipped. also what sector is it in? - maxdacat

there a piece of preplaced gear above him so i guess most of the gear is already in the climb and not on his harness. - TLockwood

Trad route mainly on pockets. Resides on Skyline Walls (Central Gully Right). Above and behind Reaper Buttress. - Boardlord

nice shot. all gear isn't it? - duglash

Nice one! Very 3D - kerroxapithecus

Another top shot, but this time by a new photographer to this site. Good angle highlighting the crux overhang feature and the 'feel' of the location. Interesting use of orange-brown trousers and helmet colour to juxtapose with rock colour. Angle of drawers on the harness and possible slight warping? of vertical features in background leads me to suspect camera may not be held at true horizontal, ie climber is 'pulling' photo(!), towards slightly right tilt?? - IdratherbeclimbingM9

great photo, classic blue mountains location and rock. I agree that the photo is about 2-4 degrees rotated clockwise. - qman

yea, As above. Its just like the 4wd commercial with the guys draws hanging at 90 degrees from his harness. looks more like a push up on the access track to me. wink wink. - westie

Great photo. 2-4 degrees seems within acceptable limits to me. Rotating it counterclockwise 20 degrees would still be something I'd struggle with. - kerroxapithecus

I think if rotation or whatever distracts the viewer from the subject it is to much. Its not a matter of tolerances, its a matter of whether people notice and are distracted by it. In this case its the background that triggers the veiwer noticing the rotation. It is very easily fixed in Photoshop or most photo editing programs. - qman

I think the photograpther owes us all an apology for not holding the camera square. nice looking climb. - shawkshaw

mm, 2 -4 degrees rotation, damn, must remember that when hanging on the abseil rope next time! For the record I used a borrowed camera (thanks Niall) and just took a sequence of shots. Any lighting, costume etc was purely natural. Also for the record Josh was onsighting the climb and there wasn't a lot of thought of set up or posing. Cheers for any positive commnets anyway, Mike. - mikepatt

As Mike used my camera it was I who originally downloaded the shot and despite looking at it many times since I've never even noticed the slight tilt. I tend to look at photos from the overall impression point of view, which is what a photo like this is about. I'll lend Mike a spirit level next time to keep the nitpickers happy. It's a top route btw, pretty cruisy for the grade and great exposure. (Declaration of interest: I was the FA). - tnd

Yeah Dude. Great Shot. There seems to be a few new routes going up in this area. Is there many more lines to put up or have you fella's taken all the good ones. Cheers Bundy - BundyBear

Man, i didnt mean to offend anyone. You post a photo on the web with a comments option and i compliment the photo and give some constructive feedback and i get flamed for it. Go figure. What were you expecting? WOW, OOHH ARHH AWESOME!!! I am a keen taker of photos and i am very critical of my own photos. Personally i welcome constructive feedback to help me to improve my photo taking and post processing skills. Feel free to tear my shots apart, i welcome the feedback. www.quentinsmith.co.nz I will reinforce that i think it is a great photo. I certainly find it challenging to get in good position at the right time for good climbing photos. In this case you got a great angle at a good time on a great part of the route. The rock and the background screams Blue Mountains (context). The rotation was a minor and easily fixable distraction. Take it or leave it but dont get upset about constructive feedback if you choose to post a photo on the internet. - qman

Hey Bundy Still potential around there but of course it isn't in the shire...;-) There'll be even more new routes if Glenn ever gets around to cleaning and climbing the ones he's bolted! - tnd

hey qman, who flamed you? BTW any rotation was purely accidental and not intended to make the route look stepper. Actually I'm quite chuffed Niall sent in the photo and it's got some good comments. At the end of the day I reckon credits due to Josh for climbing it and Niall for putting up the route in the first place. It would be fairly easy for other climbers & photographers to duplicate the shot given the convinient position of the rap in. - mikepatt

Comments accepted gman. I believe you were only agreeing and expanding on the first comment anyway. I don't see it as being a negative criticism of the photo at all - more an observation of the angle. I think the third comment expanding on yours and then mine both changed yours so that people then focussed on the 2-4 degree thing as if it was joined with the other comments. However it was not and that was wrong. Ahhh the joys of internet communication!! - kerroxapithecus

Still potential around there but of course it isn't in the shire...;-) There'll be even more new routes if Glenn ever gets around to cleaning and climbing the ones he's bolted! LOL Poor old Glenn. He has be talking these one's up 4 ages. Time 2 tick !! - BundyBear

Hey Mike, don't take it personally, the thing I have found with photos is that some love it and some hate it, no big deal. If you love it, that's all that matters. If you want to improve yourself, just keep taking more pics and the little things will look after themselves ;-) JJ PS Lightroom or Photoshop would fix the tilt in a jiffy =) - JJ

Great Photo - well done both. Man if you think that is getting flamed...;) - Rupert