I'm a new member who also thought to start with this thread.
This is Tucker Falls in Milford, NH. Taken about a month ago, mid morning. We'd just gotten the first snow of the season, but the tree branches are thick enough to have kept a lot of it off the ground.
Fern Spring, just past Pohono Bridge in Yosemite National Park. Taken earlier today. It's a fairly small spring that cascades over several ledges, each maybe a foot or so tall. This is the top ledge and my camera was sitting on a beanbag atop the next ledge.
Shot with a Nikkor 10-24mm super-wide angle lens on a Nikon D90.
Iguassu Falls - Brazil - Spelled three different ways depending on which country you are from. Borders Brazil and Argentina. I flew into Sao Paulo to visit the wifes family and then took some of them and drove accross the country to see this and we stayed there for three days.
Used a Canon 70 - 200 mm 2.8 and a 24 - 70 mm 2.8 lens here.
My first attempts at waterfall photography (from August '09). I tried to concentrate on interesting foreground detail because the waterfall isn't exactly that spectacular.
IMO the exposures were far too long. I seam to have lost some detail in both the water and rocks. In retrospect I wish I had tried a variety of shutter speeds.
Both images shot at 30sec, f20 for the first and f18 for the second. Shot at 18mm (28mm in 35mm terms) on Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 (standard kit lens of 400D).
Nick - I like the swirls on the water in the lower left (adds nice character). The water that's falling mid-photo seems slightly blown out (or almost blown out). For a 30s exposure, were you using ND filters or was it really shady there? Nice shots either way.
Nick - I like the swirls on the water in the lower left (adds nice character). The water that's falling mid-photo seems slightly blown out (or almost blown out). For a 30s exposure, were you using ND filters or was it really shady there? Nice shots either way.
Cheers for the comment, much appreciated.
I have a circular pola but no NDs. I should have used the pola for these shots, but i didn't realise it would help until reading this forum a few days ago. Both shots are ISO 100. Plus there is a covering over leaves over head and no direct sun.
As for the blown out water, i will look back at the RAW and see if i can bring some detail back. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of detail from the falling water by using such long exposures, which blurred out and shape/form of the water.
I have a circular pola but no NDs. I should have used the pola for these shots, but i didn't realise it would help until reading this forum a few days ago. Both shots are ISO 100. Plus there is a covering over leaves over head and no direct sun.
As for the blown out water, i will look back at the RAW and see if i can bring some detail back. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of detail from the falling water by using such long exposures, which blurred out and shape/form of the water.
Polarizers are nice since they can give a couple stops of ND as well as cutting lots of glare. I carry a +4 ND as well since many of the waterfalls I visit don't have shade nearby (and for when I want long exposure times). I've thought about picking up something even darker but haven't felt a strong need yet.
I've blown far more water shots than I've kept and figure it's a good excuse to visit those places again.
Nice looking waterfall on that creek. I dug up the photo info and it says the shot was taken at f/25 on a Nikon D60. Which lens are you using?
I ask only because my D90 often doesn't seem to take crisp shots (even with a decent tripod under it) and the really tiny f/stops. I end up shooting waterfalls in aperture priority to get the DOF I want, then playing with ISO and exposure comp to dial in shutter speed and avoid blowing out highlights.
I'm an amateur (and happy to stay that way) but I'm always looking for ways to improve.
I also like the other shot you have in your gallery of that creek's waterfall (the one with a wider view showing more of the fallen trees, etc in the water's path).
I was just using the stock lens actually, 18-55mm, and actually no tripod, just set it on the ground. I always have my ISO at 100, I dont get crisp shots with anything higher than that.
Thanks for the comments.
Hope that helps
What a great post with some excellent tips on waterfall photography! The original post was some time ago now, but I guess others will be dropping by when they need some advice, so I'll just add to it.
I most certainly agree that a circular polarizer is required, and an ND filter on those ratbag sunny days. I prefer the longer exposures myself, and there's been many a time when some of the waterfalls have just been too big to feature the entire falls in a composition, so I also like to zoom in and concentrate on just one thing.
A good tripod is essential, as mentioned earlier - sometimes the best shot is right in front of the waterfall, in water. In that case, you definitely do not want your tripod to be unstable.
I have taken multiple exposures of waterfalls before, but as a general rule I try not to (because I'm lazy at post-processing!). The times I have done this are usually due to sunny weather and not being able to capture the dynamic range in one image.
Here are a few examples:
#1. Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan province, China. Waterfalls were too wide, so I zoomed in on the rock in the middle. Taken in the middle of the day in overcast conditions. Canon 5DMkII, f16, 0.5s, CPL, ISO50, 62mm.
#2. Skogarfoss, Iceland. HDR blend of 6 images (i.e. 18 altogether). It was a bit too sunny to try just taking one image! I don't have the EXIF on hand for this one... Taken in the middle of the day in sunny conditions.
#3. Overland Track, Tasmania, Australia. Here's one where I had to sit in the middle of the stream on a fallen log, with my tripod legs extended into the water. It was tricky trying to balance! Taken in the middle of the day in overcast conditions, in a rainforest (i.e. dark!) Canon 20D, f22, 10s, CPL, ISO100, 20mm.
Here are a few of mine. Mostly I try to not shoot waterfalls in the middle of the day, so I rarely use a polarizer anymore for these. These were all with some sort of ND solid, taken before or just after sunrise. Granted, whatever way the waterfall faces with the low sunrise light can make the shadows hard to recover sometimes.
1. Enders Falls State Park, East Granby, CT - Fall 2009
2. Enders Falls - Fall 2009
3. Enders Falls - Fall 2009
4. Ayers Gap/Baileys Ravine - North Franklin, CT - Fall 2009
This was a delibrate effect here to get the pool swirl, again taken right at sunrise, so I could control the reflection, and not blow out the water with a 8 second or so exposure.
5.
And my last, and really my only shot taken middle of the day....Screw Auger Falls, in Maine. I was really excited to shoot this falls, but the timing didn't work out right for the time of day to be there. I had heard don't try to shoot this in the middle of a sunny day...and the rumors were correct. It faces south, so the sun hits right on the face of the falls. I had a lot of trouble controlling exposure of the falls, and rocks together here. So processing this was fun. So things to consider besides polarizers tripods, and what water effect you want, is the facing direction of the falls, and time of day.
Wow, I wish I would have found this thread sooner. Looking forward to going to the beginning and seeing all of the great shots. Here are a couple I've shot. As always, C&C Appreciated
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This is Tucker Falls in Milford, NH. Taken about a month ago, mid morning. We'd just gotten the first snow of the season, but the tree branches are thick enough to have kept a lot of it off the ground.
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Shot with a Nikkor 10-24mm super-wide angle lens on a Nikon D90.
Used a Canon 70 - 200 mm 2.8 and a 24 - 70 mm 2.8 lens here.
My first attempts at waterfall photography (from August '09). I tried to concentrate on interesting foreground detail because the waterfall isn't exactly that spectacular.
IMO the exposures were far too long. I seam to have lost some detail in both the water and rocks. In retrospect I wish I had tried a variety of shutter speeds.
Both images shot at 30sec, f20 for the first and f18 for the second. Shot at 18mm (28mm in 35mm terms) on Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 (standard kit lens of 400D).
1.
2.
Nick - I like the swirls on the water in the lower left (adds nice character). The water that's falling mid-photo seems slightly blown out (or almost blown out). For a 30s exposure, were you using ND filters or was it really shady there? Nice shots either way.
Cheers for the comment, much appreciated.
I have a circular pola but no NDs. I should have used the pola for these shots, but i didn't realise it would help until reading this forum a few days ago. Both shots are ISO 100. Plus there is a covering over leaves over head and no direct sun.
As for the blown out water, i will look back at the RAW and see if i can bring some detail back. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of detail from the falling water by using such long exposures, which blurred out and shape/form of the water.
Check my site out at http://dylanwyer.smugmug.com
And please comment!
Thank you Thwack, I appreciate the compliment.
Polarizers are nice since they can give a couple stops of ND as well as cutting lots of glare. I carry a +4 ND as well since many of the waterfalls I visit don't have shade nearby (and for when I want long exposure times). I've thought about picking up something even darker but haven't felt a strong need yet.
I've blown far more water shots than I've kept and figure it's a good excuse to visit those places again.
Nice looking waterfall on that creek. I dug up the photo info and it says the shot was taken at f/25 on a Nikon D60. Which lens are you using?
I ask only because my D90 often doesn't seem to take crisp shots (even with a decent tripod under it) and the really tiny f/stops. I end up shooting waterfalls in aperture priority to get the DOF I want, then playing with ISO and exposure comp to dial in shutter speed and avoid blowing out highlights.
I'm an amateur (and happy to stay that way) but I'm always looking for ways to improve.
I also like the other shot you have in your gallery of that creek's waterfall (the one with a wider view showing more of the fallen trees, etc in the water's path).
Thanks for the comments.
Hope that helps
Check my site out at http://dylanwyer.smugmug.com
And please comment!
I most certainly agree that a circular polarizer is required, and an ND filter on those ratbag sunny days. I prefer the longer exposures myself, and there's been many a time when some of the waterfalls have just been too big to feature the entire falls in a composition, so I also like to zoom in and concentrate on just one thing.
A good tripod is essential, as mentioned earlier - sometimes the best shot is right in front of the waterfall, in water. In that case, you definitely do not want your tripod to be unstable.
I have taken multiple exposures of waterfalls before, but as a general rule I try not to (because I'm lazy at post-processing!). The times I have done this are usually due to sunny weather and not being able to capture the dynamic range in one image.
Here are a few examples:
#1. Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan province, China. Waterfalls were too wide, so I zoomed in on the rock in the middle. Taken in the middle of the day in overcast conditions. Canon 5DMkII, f16, 0.5s, CPL, ISO50, 62mm.
#2. Skogarfoss, Iceland. HDR blend of 6 images (i.e. 18 altogether). It was a bit too sunny to try just taking one image! I don't have the EXIF on hand for this one... Taken in the middle of the day in sunny conditions.
#3. Overland Track, Tasmania, Australia. Here's one where I had to sit in the middle of the stream on a fallen log, with my tripod legs extended into the water. It was tricky trying to balance! Taken in the middle of the day in overcast conditions, in a rainforest (i.e. dark!) Canon 20D, f22, 10s, CPL, ISO100, 20mm.
www.everlookphotography.com
1. Enders Falls State Park, East Granby, CT - Fall 2009
2. Enders Falls - Fall 2009
3. Enders Falls - Fall 2009
4. Ayers Gap/Baileys Ravine - North Franklin, CT - Fall 2009
This was a delibrate effect here to get the pool swirl, again taken right at sunrise, so I could control the reflection, and not blow out the water with a 8 second or so exposure.
5.
And my last, and really my only shot taken middle of the day....Screw Auger Falls, in Maine. I was really excited to shoot this falls, but the timing didn't work out right for the time of day to be there. I had heard don't try to shoot this in the middle of a sunny day...and the rumors were correct. It faces south, so the sun hits right on the face of the falls. I had a lot of trouble controlling exposure of the falls, and rocks together here. So processing this was fun. So things to consider besides polarizers tripods, and what water effect you want, is the facing direction of the falls, and time of day.
http://nikonic1.smugmug.com/
F22, ISO 100, 1.6sec, 5D MARK II, 24-105mm, ND 2 & ND4 Stacked, about 1:30PM EST
Gorgeous!
Paul Zizka Photography: zizka.smugmug.com
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This is the lower falls of Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park. Taken on a very cold day in December of 2007.