Waterfalls in Indiana

pathfinder

Brendan and I returned to Upper Cataract Falls today, as it has been raining for several days and we thought we might see some cataracts:wink

We did - Here is Brendan hard at work in the rain - normally there is just a trickle of water over this dam. Today you can feel the ground shake!
ISO 100 f11.0 1/6th sec 45mm


A view just below the previous area
ISO 100 f16 2 sec 65mm


A closer view of the flow across the head
ISO 100 f16 4 secs 65mm


Comments and criticisms carefully considered:thumb

GREAPER

Looks great. I really like the second one.

pathfinder

Thanks Brian.

I learned one thing yesterday and that was that a variable ND is very pleasant to use because you can focus and see through it easily and then darken the view down for the longer shutter speed needed.

What I did not see when darkened down, was how much vignetting occurs then with a 24mm lens on a 5D! I lost several shots!!

I need better raincoat for my camera also! It was pouring at times, and 5D's are not always happy in that environment.

Here is McCormick's Creek
ISO 100 f18.0 5 secs 50mm

hejjafish

Nice shots, Pathfinder. I like the 2nd one best although, the first is great for getting a sense of the scale. What a massive amount of water. How long of a drive is the Rec. Area for you?

pathfinder

Never really measured the distance - typically 45-50 minutes. Mapquest says it is about 36 miles and that is in the ballpark.

The nice thing is that there is no need to be there for sunrise, because the sun does not shine down there until at least several hours after sunrise.

As for scale, the first image is just of a wall above the falls, the falls themselves are 3-5 times that high depending on which fall you measure.

This is an example of the lower part of the upper falls about 50 yards further downstream from the images above. I shot this image last spring from a higher vantage point.



When the water is running, this is not a creek you would want to be caught in. I shot a deer that made that mistake last January and posted a thread about it in the Wildlife forum. Here are two shots with the deer trapped in the open water below the lower falls which are currently completely submerged, below the water level of the lake. Note the ice on the horns of the deer This deer certainly died of hypothermia that day. It was 14 degrees Fahrenheit when these images were shot.

schmoo

Smoooooooooooth and silky! Beautiful

Variable ND?

pathfinder

Hi Steph,

Someone noticed!! Hooray Hooray!! I have edited my original posts to include the exif data so you can see the shutter speeds used

Yes it was a Variable ND. I learned a few things about it too. A lot easier to use than a standard 8 or 10x ND, because you can see and focus through it and then dial down the light afterward for the longer shutter speed.

But it is thick enough to vignette significantly with a 24mm on a 5D. I wonder how much better the thinner version is, in this regard.

I am afraid that it will not work well much wider than 35-45 mm or so. For really wide lenses ( 16- 20mm ), a handheld 4x6 inch ND may be a better choice.