Waterfalls

gdaddy

Alright everybody, how about some detailed tips, settings, whatever on shooting Waterfalls. If you post photos, please give all the details of when, where, light, time of day, settings used, filters, etc.... I need your input as I am taking a trip to shoot waterfalls at the end of October. Thanks in advance.
gdaddy

anwmn1

gdaddy wrote:

Alright everybody, how about some detailed tips, settings, whatever on shooting Waterfalls. If you post photos, please give all the details of when, where, light, time of day, settings used, filters, etc.... I need your input as I am taking a trip to shoot waterfalls at the end of October. Thanks in advance.
gdaddy

Like any other landscape shot it depends on the light when you are there. If you know where you are going try to find out which direction the falls face. Are they narrow falls in deep woods or wide falls in wide open area? ND filters work great to extend the shutter speed as does cranking the F-stop down to F22.

RayLarson

Taken in Seekonk, MA
D80, ISO 100, f14, 1/10sec Nikkor 18-200VR

Sam

ISO 100, f16, 8 seconds Big Sur:

torags

gdaddy wrote:

Alright everybody, how about some detailed tips, settings, whatever on shooting Waterfalls. If you post photos, please give all the details of when, where, light, time of day, settings used, filters, etc.... I need your input as I am taking a trip to shoot waterfalls at the end of October. Thanks in advance.
gdaddy

I think you first have to make a determination of whether you like silky waterfalls or "veined" waterfalls. Then you can determine what settings to ask for.

It seems most photogs prefer silk (I don't)

The reaction to moving water (hitting rocks, etc) can provide a lot of drama that silk hides. Additionally you lose the contrast between water color and the suds of curls.

My .02

anwmn1

torags wrote:

I think you first have to make a determination of whether you like silky waterfalls or "veined" waterfalls. Then you can determine what settings to ask for.

It seems most photogs prefer silk (I don't)

The reaction to moving water (hitting rocks, etc) can provide a lot of drama that silk hides. Additionally you lose the contrast between water color and the suds of curls.

My .02

That is a very good point.

For me it depends on the falls or water.

Silky

Direct light 1:48pm ISO100 F45( that's what it says) 1/5


Not silky (the water looks clearer and more refreshing to me)


Direct light 1:50pm ISO 100 F10.0 1/125




Soft shadow 8:00 am ISO 100 F4.5 1/50

Dwayne Oakes

Cloudy, f/16 at 2 seconds, ISO 100, 18 mm, 9:22am, Nikon D80.
BW setting, jpeg no pp.

http://dwayneoakes.zenfolio.com

Take care Dwayne Oakes

gdaddy

waterfall shots

Dwayne Oakes wrote:

Cloudy, f/16 at 2 seconds, ISO 100, 18 mm, 9:22am, Nikon D80.
BW setting, jpeg no pp.

http://dwayneoakes.zenfolio.com

Take care Dwayne Oakes

Hello,
I am viewing this photo and noticing that you shot it with 18mm. i am also noticing the distance from bottom to top. The guide that is taking me to about a dozen waterfalls to shoot end of Oct. says we will be close. Is this 18mm shot a full frame, no crop factor? I have a 20-35 on a Canon 40D which is a 1.6 crop factor and now I am worried that may not be wide enough based on looking at this shot. Can you offer some more info on this shot or suggestions about the lens. I will be shooting in the early morning.
gdaddy

Dwayne Oakes

Hi gdady

The Nikon D80 has a APS sensor so there will be a crop factor.
As I don't use any pp in my work this photo is not cropped and
is shot as is at 18mm. So I would think your lens will be fine at 20mm.
Also if you want more depth in your photos, turn your camera
and frame in the vertical position and point more towards the ground.
Hope this helps.

http://dwayneoakes.zenfolio.com

Take care Dwayne Oakes

torags

Hey Aaron... Now we're talkin'......... Nice...........

pathfinder

gdaddy wrote:

Alright everybody, how about some detailed tips, settings, whatever on shooting Waterfalls. If you post photos, please give all the details of when, where, light, time of day, settings used, filters, etc.... I need your input as I am taking a trip to shoot waterfalls at the end of October. Thanks in advance.
gdaddy

My technique for shooting waterfalls varies a great deal, depending on waterflow and lighting, and what I want to capture.

You usually can sleep in past sunrise, as most waterfalls are low areas, that receive sunlight later than early morning sunrise, so that is nice. There are exceptions to this rule though, so do your research.

You can shoot water with frontal lighting, side lighting. Backlighting is usually hard to get much of with a waterfall.... You can shoot Niagra from the tunnels behind the falls.

I use shutter speeds from 1/200th to 4 or 5 seconds. Apertures tend to be small for more depth of field, A neutral density filter - 8x or 10x - is a big help to allow those long shutter speeds in the light of the day. A graduated ND can be a help sometimes also.

Bring a good tripod that is easy to use, and use it, a cable release, and mirror lockup.

Adding some fill flash for small close up waterfalls can add a little pop to the water also.

I have a few waterfalls shots here

IPClark

I'd say use Aperture Priority. Dial in at around F11 ish, maybe drop the exposure compensation a touch and let the camera do the rest. This will allow for a motion blurred shot. If you wish to freeze the water action, maybe switch over to Shutter priority and increase shutter speed until you get the result you want. No real need to go any higher than ISO 100 unless you can't get the shutter speed fast enough without making the image too dark. You could go fully manual and tailor the exposure settings to suit your requirements.

I love silky shots although really should take more stop action shots

This first one was shot at 24mm for 125 Seconds (yup just over 2 minutes) @ F11 using a 10 Stop ND Filter (this is probably the more extreme lengthy exposures of course). I've provided a couple of others below.

Duddon Valley, Lake District in the UK. Nr. Seathwaite



26 Seconds at F16 with the 10 Stop filter on.

Honistor Pass, Lake District. Nr. Buttermere.



F14 for 0.5 secs. Exposure compensation dropped a couple of steps. Aperture Priority used. No ND filter.

Thornton Force, Ingleton, North Yorkshire. UK



F14 @1/3 of a second. Again aperture priority used, exp. compensation dropped a couple of steps and fill in flash used (as much as the onboard can fill). Again, no ND Filter.

Ingleton, North Yorkshire. UK (can't remember the name of the waterfall)

coscorrosa

Waterfall Advice
Here are my thoughts on waterfall shots along with a few examples.

All of this is just my opinion, better photographers than me will disagree, so take it for what it's worth

1) Always use a polarizer filter, it'll cut down the glare on foreground objects and allow you to increase shutter speed and increase saturation. After (or during!) the rain works well, as all the vegetation will be that more saturated. I agree with pathfinder that front and side light are the best.

2) There's a debate on long vs. short exposure waterfall shots, IMO, long exposures look better 99% of the time. Of course, feel free to experiment.

3) Don't worry about getting the entire waterfall in the frame (presumably you're not there for scientific or documentation purposes, you're trying to get a good photo). Often the best photo only shows a portion of the falls and has other interesting things beside it.

4) Overcast light is almost always the best. If it's sunny, or if you want to include the sky in your composition, wait until just after sunset or just before sunrise, otherwise it'll be blown out (you can fix this by bracketing and masking, but it's more work and usually not worth the payoff). If the entire waterfall is in shadow (and many are within forests, etc.), then your window of time for good light is obviously greater, though you may want to warm up the colors in post later. There's one case where the sun might be preferable, and that's to generate a rainbow near the falls (this can often make up for the shadows). I have an 8-stop ND filter but never use it, I find that if the polarizer + f/22 ISO 100 can't get me a long enough exposure, the light probably isn't good enough anyway.

5) Waterfall shots are landscape shots too! Don't forget that other elements besides the waterfall (rocks, moss, trees) can make or break the shot just like other landscape photos. If it's a huge waterfall, having some other object to compare it against can indicate its size.

6) Don't just do the waterfalls! Often, on trails and paths to waterfalls there are creeks, rivers, and other interesting subjects. And while the falls may be more impressive in person, the better photos are often found on the way there. It's very common (for me) to find waterfalls more impressive in person and less impressive photographically, and the streams and little waterfalls are more impressive photographically and less impressive in person.

7) Like most landscape shots, I use manual focus and shoot in aperture priority (f/13 to f/22, whatever gets me the DOF and shutter speed I need, generally no faster than ISO 400, usually at ISO 100). I'll bracket occasionally as well for HDR to increase the dynamic range (sometimes the waterfall is bright while the surrounding objects are dark, HDR can help out with that).

Enough blather, here's a few shots.

Multnomah Falls (the entire falls isn't shown, the bridge helps indicate the size somewhat, and there's a lot of foreground stuff with all the moss):



Snoqualmie Falls (this day was sunny, and this shot was taken just after sunset. The canyon and the building provide a sense of scale).



Latourell Falls (this shot was taken in the morning while it was raining, there's lots of green and color, the rocks provide interesting foreground, and the entire falls aren't shown, but I think the creek is just as interesting in this case. Like the other shots, I used a polarizer to cut down on the glare of the foreground).



Good luck!

Nacho

Water Flows
Hi Folks:

Long time no post, but this is a very cool thread, and I do like shooting water flows. To add a bit to what has already been said... I have found that in order to photograph great water flows one has to know what style one prefers. Some folks like silky smooth, others like plenty of tonal contrast, some like texture, etc. Spending a bit of time thinking about what one wants to create is important.



Also, learning about water flows is helpful. Water Flows are different. You have heavy flows, light flows, fast, slow, medium, rocky, branches, chutes, swirls, sprays, etc. It behooves us to know just what type of water flow we are going to photograph. Rocks, branches, etc. along with different levels of water and/or speed can really dictate how a water flow is best photographed.



In my estimation, a fundamental factor is light. I prefer early morning, or late evening, or water flows that are in shade. Direct sunlight, or harsh sun will only make it more difficult to get a good shot, even with polarizers and/or neutral density filters. Besides, overcast weather, or grayish days, bring out colors around, and the blueish cast from the light might help add a touch of cool temperature (if that's what you like).



I prefer f/16 or f/22 and not too long shutter speeds. Problem with long shutter speeds is that way too much can intrude on the shot. I've seen fish plop in the water, wind blow enough to blur leaves, branches fall, birds swoop in, critters land on your lens, light change as clouds part, other folks come trampling by, etc. In one of my shots, my tripod was in water and I noticed that the constant push of the flow did not make for great steadyness. The longer the exposure the worse in that situation. In Great Falls National Historical Park in MD I had a Heron just fly through the frame. So, I recommend a shorter shutter speed.



I also encourage folks to go manual. Take your time, dial it in, bracket, be one with nature. Breathe in deeply and relax. It is a creative process after all.

I've been shooting water flows in 14-Bit Raw, with mirror lock-up, with a remote release, a Neutral density... I also like contrast between smooth silky whites in water, to represent denseness, and other sections being darker and more textured.



Composition is also key. If you are down from the water flow (that is, the water is coming toward you) a lower perspective/angle might be quite cool to enhance that feel. Tall falls require a different style, especially if they are of very heavy flow. I prefer those a bit underexposed, so that the flow itself does not lose too much texture. Also, a big part of the visual appeal of some water flow areas is the dynamic tension that is present when multiple flows of water go in different directions (either because of rocks or other obstructions, etc.). It pays to look carefully to see how one can maximize such visual appeal.

Rainy days are perfect, but watch your step. I've fallen on falls.



Water flows can be pretty cliche'd shots. So, always try for different compositional strategies to get something cool and exciting. Not always easy since at times geography dictates what we can do.

As the previous poster noted, what makes a great water flow shot is not just the water, its the combination of all the elements present. The landscape compositional strategy of foreground, midground, and background is helpful even with these type of shots.



Oh, and don't forget post-processing.

Best Regards, and thanks for starting the thread. Cool shots and advice here.

Best,

N

schmoo

Totally awesome images and advice in here. I'm linking this one in our sticky!

IPClark

Nacho, loving those Waterfalls.. Superb.

Nacho

Ian, thank you so much. The other shots here are darn cool also. So much fun to be had shooting waterfalls and streams, etc. I wish I had more time to travel and find neat new places like the ones shown in this thread!

Thanks again,

N

IPClark wrote:

Nacho, loving those Waterfalls.. Superb.

gdaddy

Waterfalls

Nacho wrote:

Ian, thank you so much. The other shots here are darn cool also. So much fun to be had shooting waterfalls and streams, etc. I wish I had more time to travel and find neat new places like the ones shown in this thread!

Thanks again,

N

Well, I am really happy about starting this thread, keep 'em coming.
Especially all the wonderfull photos and advice. I was just going to shoot in Shutter Priority Mode and bracket. Now, I have all this advice for my shoot in October.
Thanks to all of you who have participated so far. I hope that the rest of you who are looking who have not posted will join in, with photos, and your settings.
Thanks again,
gdaddy

HDShooter

Nikon D3 0.8sec @f8 Iso 200 w/circular polarizer. In a deep canyon on a sunny day at noon.
Suggestions: Level the camera and bracket alot.


Bolder cave.

IPClark

HDShooter wrote:

Very nice image HDShooter however how about posting some detail on the image as to how you achieved it and what your recommendations are as requested by the original poster?


EDIT: Thanks for the info

gdaddy

waterfalls

HDShooter wrote:

Nikon D3 0.8sec @f8 Iso 200 w/circular polarizer. In a deep canyon on a sunny day at noon.
Suggestions: Level the camera and bracket alot.


Bolder cave.

HDShooter, Nice shot. Thanks for mentioning sunny and use of polarizer. I can actually see the water in not blown out and know that you used a polarizer that probably helped produce the better water exposure due to being sunny or in the sun. I know I have seen shots before where a polarizer was probably used, but they photographer did not say so as related to a particular picture. This helps me. gdaddy

CWSkopec

gdaddy wrote:

HDShooter, Nice shot. Thanks for mentioning sunny and use of polarizer. I can actually see the water in not blown out and know that you used a polarizer that probably helped produce the better water exposure due to being sunny or in the sun. I know I have seen shots before where a polarizer was probably used, but they photographer did not say so as related to a particular picture. This helps me. gdaddy

Another reason to bring a polarizer... it can help you if you catch a rainbow created by the waterfall's mist! You'll have to twist it to find the best spot, but if you're lucky enough to catch the light at just the right moment, the polarizer at it's minimum effect will enhance the rainbow. At maximum effect it actually takes the rainbow right out, so set up your tripod and catch a few with max effect and minimum effect so you can blend the shots together and have the best of the rainbow and the best of the surrounding colors... at least that's what I tried... I just returned from Yosemite and even though the water's not flowing much I was lucky enought to be at Bridalviel at just the right moment. But I just returned from my trip last night, so I don't have any processed photos to show.

Hopefully soon I'll add a couple!

gdaddy

CWSkopec wrote:

Another reason to bring a polarizer... it can help you if you catch a rainbow created by the waterfall's mist! You'll have to twist it to find the best spot, but if you're lucky enough to catch the light at just the right moment, the polarizer at it's minimum effect will enhance the rainbow. At maximum effect it actually takes the rainbow right out, so set up your tripod and catch a few with max effect and minimum effect so you can blend the shots together and have the best of the rainbow and the best of the surrounding colors... at least that's what I tried... I just returned from Yosemite and even though the water's not flowing much I was lucky enought to be at Bridalviel at just the right moment. But I just returned from my trip last night, so I don't have any processed photos to show.

Hopefully soon I'll add a couple!

Hi, thanks for your input. Bridalveil Falls is one of the falls I will be going to at the end of October. I would like to see the photos you took along with the info on conditions, time of day, camera settings, lens, f/stop, shutter speed, and whether you used manual or shutter or ap. priority, etc...
If you would, yo could post pic here or send me via email at hmottejr@sc.rr.com
Thanks again to all who have posted replies and photos, you have been just the help I need. gdaddy

CWSkopec

gdaddy wrote:

Hi, thanks for your input. Bridalveil Falls is one of the falls I will be going to at the end of October. I would like to see the photos you took along with the info on conditions, time of day, camera settings, lens, f/stop, shutter speed, and whether you used manual or shutter or ap. priority, etc...
If you would, yo could post pic here or send me via email at hmottejr@sc.rr.com
Thanks again to all who have posted replies and photos, you have been just the help I need. gdaddy

I'll post a couple here with the info when I get a chance to process it... I've got a busy week ahead here catching up from my vacation, but hopefully by the weekend...

I can't remember at the moment what settings I was using, but I'll post that info with the photo, however the time of day will be very important. I took mine a little over an hour before sunset, of course the exact time will change by October, but look up sunset times for the day you're there and plan to be at Bridalveil maybe an hour and a half or two hours to be safe ahead of sunset. I had to take my shots from the parking lot as it was the only vantage point where the light hit the water in just the right way. Maybe earlier or later you could find a rainbow from a better photo spot...

Nacho

Basic Guide to Photographing Water Flows
Hi Folks:

This thread was the last bit I needed to finish an entry I was writing, and now I decided to make it a document. Here is a drafty version of the document without images. Tonight I'll have a version with images. You can also see it in my emerging weblog.

http://www.willamette.edu/~ncordova/img/Photographing Water Flows.pdf

Here is a revised version of a Wahkeena Falls shot I posted earlier. I wanted to draw the comparison about texture vs dense blown whites (my original was a far more dense whites, less texture, and greener cast shot). Here is the original and the newer version:

Original:

Revised:

I like them both, but have a slight preference for more white.

I'd love to hear your feedback on the guide. I will continue to revise it.

Best,

N

IPClark

A very good read. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire piece and I found it particularly informative for myself too.

Nacho

Thanks
Ian, thank you very much for taking your time to read it, and for your kind words. I've already received some good feedback, so I will continue working on it.

Thanks,

N

dlplumer

EXIF

This was taken at Sabino Canyon in Tucson Arizona in bright mid day light. I did use a tripod.

IPClark

dlplumer wrote:

Image snipped

And the EXIF, Location, Accessories?, as requested by the OP ;o)


EDIT: Thanks

boblu262

Another waterfall
Great waterfall images and great tips!
Infrared is another option if your camera has the capability.



This IR image was shot using an r-72 filter on my old on my old D70 (I miss its IR capability). It was a 30 second exposure. Post processing included a good amount of time in PS Curves.

Swartzy

13 seconds, f/25, ISO 100 with 4x ND filter around 8:20 PM, October 1st 2007, Tumalo Falls, OR



Iso 100, 3 frame bracketed HDR...4x ND filter w/polarizer. Gooseberry Falls, Minnesota



One more. Overcast day, Polarizer, 8 seconds, ISO 100...camera just above the water