Craigs Hut became famous for it's role in the blockbuster movie 'The Man From Snowy River' which was filmed here in the eighties. The hut is located at a place called 'Clear Hills' near the summit of Mt. Stirling in the Victorian high country and offers superb panoramic views across the Victorian alps.

Although I have visited Craig's Hut many times, this photograph is of very special significance to me as it took over 3 years to visualise, research, plan and then finally capture. Although Craig's Hut receives snow occasionally during Winter, the road is closed at the entrance to Mt. Stirling from the start of the ski season right through to November making it very difficult to obtain access unless you are super fit and well trained in the use of snow shoes or cross country skis. Either option was not really viable for me as I have around 15kg of camera equipment alone and when visiting a location like Craigs Hut I wanted to make sure I could bring supplies and camping gear to stay at least a few days and improve my chances of capturing some magic light.

I eventually figured out a way to gain access with all my gear and was ready to go in late August 2009. The only problem was it had been a very poor ski season on Mt Stirling and there wasn't any snow at Craigs Hut. In fact worse still, the long range snow forecasters were predicting that the ski season was pretty much over for the year. It was looking like I was going to have to wait yet another year to capture my dream shot!

Despite the dire predictions, I kept an eye on the forecasts every morning and a week or so before the end of September I awoke to some great news! My prayers had been answered, they were predicting 2-3 days of heavy snow down to very low levels over the grand final weekend. I immediately cleared my schedule and started planning the trip. Camping in the snow is not something for the faint hearted so I had to make sure I had suitable gear for the job.

The day after it stopped snowing, a close friend and I embarked on our journey and arrived to a magnificent 30cm of snow surrounding Craigs Hut. We settled in for a few days and I have to say the serenity of the place was simply amazing.

After setting our gear up, I immediately scoped out the area for potential compositions. Getting a fresh, new unique composition of Craig's Hut is easier said than done as the hut seems to work best around sunset from the western side, which is where most photographers shoot from. I thought I would try something different and focused my time on a new composition at sunrise from close in to the hut on the eastern side.

I rose at 5AM every morning in freezing conditions to shoot my chosen composition at sunrise. On the 2nd morning I awoke to the beginnings of a beautiful red sunrise. The snow had started to melt a little during the previous day but there was still plenty to capture this breathtaking shot of Craigs Hut.

By the 3rd day, most of the snow had melted leaving only small patches around the hut. Content with the conditions from the previous morning we packed up our gear and returned home to develop my film.

There is always a degree of anxiety when I get my film developed as there are so many things that could go wrong during the complicated process of shooting with a panoramic range finder camera. I had nothing to worry about though, as the shot came out just as planned, God had delivered all the conditions that I required to capture this beautiful location.