Exquisite Photoshoot locations in Kenya – Thompsons Falls Nyahururu
Thompsons Falls in Nyahururu, just like Lord Egerton Castle, is one of the photography locations in Kenya every photographer ought to take very seriously. As a tourist site, the location is endowed with unique sceneries that would provide a photographer with rich backgrounds for portraits and model photography. In addition to the waterfall that can be viewed from down under for the euphoric feeling or from top above for those scared of heights, Thompsons Falls also has the natural sceneries of a forest, rocks, grasslands and some artificial artifacts; including the possibility of taking photos with artists posing as traditional Maasais.
Getting to Thompsons Falls
Thompsons Falls is a walking distance from Nyahururu town. However, for those who can’t walk a distant of more than a 100 meters as is the case with many urban Kenyans, taking a boda boda from Nyahururu town will cost you Kshs 50 only. The falls is located roughly 1.6 Kilometers from Nyahururu town at the left side of Nyahururu-Nyeri highway. Once at the falls, adults will be required to part with Kshs 50 at the gate, although there is a way one can choose to get inside without having to pay a dime.
Once inside Thompson Falls, you will immediately get to the waterfall viewpoint shown above. This viewpoint provides nature lovers the opportunity to watch the water drift from the raised ground to fall down the valley with a thunder. This viewpoint can also be used as a photoshoot location, and the good thing is that although the there are always a number of people at the viewpoint enjoying the view of the water falling, when you start taking pictures at that spot they’ll give you your space and privacy to take your shot. When I visited the site last Sunday, I really wanted to take a few portraits at the viewpoint but time wouldn’t allow as I finished the day’s shoot at around 6:20 PM at the bottom of the fall. By the time we climbed back up, the sunlight had already gone to rest. Too bad I didn’t carry the gear for night photography.
There are several places where one can do a shoot just around the viewpoint. There is also the forest that extends up to a kilometer or so from the viewpoint, and that forest can also be accessed without having to pass through the Thompsons’ gates. However, for the shoot I went to do on Sunday, I wanted to use the sceneries provided by the river itself just at the bottom of the falls, so I went straight to the staircase that’s at the left of the above frame to 74 meters down below.
The image above already indicates the numerous choices a photographer has for a portrait background. You could have your model stand against the green trees, sit on the black rocks, or better still stair at the fall as it rapidly falls to hit hard on the rocks of Ewaso Nyiro river. I opted for the latter.
The first thing I wanted to do after we had arrived at the bottom of Thompsons Falls is to have my model take a look at the fall. We took several pictures and one came out really nice, that I had to transform it into a silhouette.
One of the pictures I intended to take was a picture showing the model freezing cold, but although the fall was that cold, the model didn’t pull that look. However I was able to get one interesting image that I manipulated in photoshop to show that her hands were freezing into ice.
The photos of the model that I took that day were all taken at the waterfall, but as I have already mentioned, Thompsons Falls offers several other interesting sceneries that allow a photographer to explore his/her creativity to the fullest.
The model who offered her services for this article is Lydia Wamboo.