By ANTHONY BOND
He has dedicated his life to exploring and photographing some of the world's most remote caves. His incredible journey has taken him to countries such as Indonesia, China and Portugal. But as these pictures show, despite travelling the globe, it seems that adventure photographer Robbie Shone, 32, found the best cave in Sheffield.
Incredible: Robbie Shone, 32, has travelled the globe for the world's best cave but seems to have found the best one in Sheffield. This is the the Giant storm drain called Megatron beneath Sheffield City Centre Stunning: In order to stay dry in such a cold cave, explorers improvise and use a small inflatable dingy to cross Lake Cadoux in this famous french cave The Gouffre Berger Daredevil: Suspended 300m below the roof and over 200m off the floor, one of the team ascends the rope deep underground in Miao Keng, China Talented: Mr Shone used his rope and abseiling skills - gained from his previous job inspecting tall buildings and bridges for structural damage - to access the caves to photograph and record details about them for the first time. This is a cave chamber in China The giant storm drain called Megatron looks stunning when lit up and is all the more incredible because it is located directly beneath Sheffield City Centre. Mr Shone used his rope and abseiling skills - gained from his previous job inspecting tall buildings and bridges for structural damage - to access the caves to photograph and record details about them for the first time. The explorer is so committed, he even spent 13 days in a row underground - camping, sleeping and eating in a remote cave in Vietnam. Huge: Cave explorers add scale to this massive cave passage called Deer Cave, one of the largest cave passages in the world, located in Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Borneo Mr Shone said: 'Exploring somewhere no one else has been before, is a very, very special feeling. It pushes me on to keep finding unexplored caves. 'The more difficult caves are the vertical ones when you're suspended on a rope for a long time. Sometimes you don't even know when you're going to reach the bottom. 'You can run out of rope before you reach the cave floor, in which case you have to go back up and get a longer rope. Beautiful: Some of the cave explorers progress downstream in Clearwater River Cave - the eighth longest cave in the world in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Borneo Dangerous: A cave explorer stands in the main chamber of Gaping Gill in the Yorkshire Dales as it is hit by a raging flood pulse. Minutes later, the floor of this room was completely covered with water Brave: A cave explorer climbs up the entrance out of Cow Pot, a classic cave in the Yorkshire Dales 'The longest time I spent underground was 13 days in a cave in Vietnam. It was so remote in the middle of a forest that it didn't make sense to leave and come back. So we camped and slept in the cave. 'We slept under some skylights in the cave to try and keep our body clocks in check. 'Caves are truly fascinating places. Of course I am drawn in by the photographic challenge. 'The challenge of lighting a place up that is so dark and so black that you cannot see your hand when it is up against your face, even when it is touching your nose. 'Every bit of light required has to be carried in by hand and this can mean dragging bags and bags for days and days to the ends of the earth just for one shot. 'But when the flashbulbs crackle into life and the flashes all go off together casting a picture before your eyes of the space you are in and the image is displayed on the back of the camera. 'For only a few seconds, I smile and see the beauty of our planet.' Dark: A cave explorer climbs out of this wet cave Mysterious: Thin whisps of clouds slowly rise out from this cave in the French Vercors known as The Gouffre Berger Different world: The photographs are a collection of six years work by Mr Shone from some of the most beautiful and remote caves ever discovered. This is a cave chamber in China Amazing: Cave explorers add scale to this massive cave passage called Deer Cave in Borneo Since a school geography trip to Peak Cavern in Castleton, Derbyshire as a 14-year-old he has been hooked on caves and has now revealed this truly incredible collection of photographs taken over a six year period. 'This a collection of six years work from some of the most beautiful and remote caves ever discovered. 'Some of these photographs will be the only record of these places that we ever see as no one will ever go back to some of these caves. 'Most of these pictures have been shot from a tripod on the floor which makes it all very safe, comfortable and easy to set-up. 'There are a couple which were shot hanging on a thin rope several hundred meters off the floor. Hazardous: A British cave explorer climbs a rope out of the giant river cave called The Whiterock River, deep underground in Clearwater Cave On the edge: Hanging on a thin rope, Portuguese cave biologist Sofia Reboleira makes her way up to the daylight and the entrance to one of Portugal's largest caves: Algar da Lagoa, Sico-Alvaiazere Massif Action man: Robbie Shone is pictured at work in one of the many caves he has visited Massive: The Sarawak Chamber is the largest cave chamber in the world 'All of these expeditions to these places were self-funded expeditions where I was selected to participate as the 'expedition photographer'. 'The most challenging expedition was in 2006 to Papua New Guinea. We stayed for three months exploring caves. 'They could be quite dangerous as they had a large amount of white water flowing through them. So care had to be taken when crossing the river because if you slipped in it would be quite dangerous. Underground: This is a stunning cave chamber in a French cave Luxurious: This plunge pool is a place halfway along a streamway leading to Sarawak Chamber in Borneo source: dailymail
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