Snoqualmie Falls (2009 Flood Version)

coscorrosa · January 9, 2009

I had planned to shoot the sunrise in Snoqualmie this morning, but the road was closed due to flooding, so I went to the falls (which I had planned on shooting as well, but later). Incidentally, the sunrise was great, and I wish I had been able to go to my spot to shoot it, but I digress.

When I got to the falls, I was completely blown away (not literally, thankfully). I have never seen them at this level before and was awestruck at the volume and power of the water. It wasn't raining, but in a few minutes I was completely soaked due to the spray even though I was quite a distance away from the falls.

Pictures don't really do it justice, here was my favorite (before I got too much water on my lens to take clear photos):

Update: Here's a warmer version that looks better:

For comparison, here's what it looks like at normal levels (the location where I took this photo was impossible to shoot from today due to the spray):

And here's a video which should give an approximation of the power (quality is crap because there wasn't much light when I took it, need to actually read the manual and see how to do video, superficially it doesn't look like there's much flexibility in aperture or ISO). You can see the trees and vegetation blowing, that's due entirely to the force of the falls. Next time I'll cover the mic (once I find out where it's located).<object height="362" width="640">

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schmoo · January 9, 2009

WOW that's some water!

A question I'm sure you've been asked before but how do you keep your lens clean and dry with such spray? I'm always skeevy about wiping it down, so obviously I don't shoot much in moist weather.

As for the video, I love this one and your other "oops" one, too. I find that since the 5D mic is so sensitive, I just disable the mic in the settings. AFAIK there is no adjustment for the ISO in movie mode and it's all automagic, and this was one source of contention with Canon folks.

richtersl · January 9, 2009

Wow! That's impressive!!!!

What's interesting in the "normal" levels shot is that you can clearly see the drop in water levels over hundreds of years. The shot that you took with the high water probably looks much like it did when Indians still roamed the region.

News of the flooding has reached even the east coast. Hope it eases for you folks soon.

Abiciriderback · January 9, 2009

I thought you might be there today. I tried yesterday but the 203 was closed about 4 miles outside Monroe. So went back up Hwy2 to Skykomish.
Just amazing the amount of water everywhere.

Ray Still

coscorrosa · January 9, 2009

schmoo wrote:

WOW that's some water!

A question I'm sure you've been asked before but how do you keep your lens clean and dry with such spray? I'm always skeevy about wiping it down, so obviously I don't shoot much in moist weather.

That's an easy one, I don't keep it clean or dry! At least not at the falls when the water is falling in the wrong direction (and by that I mean coming up from the ground).

The main thing is to make sure you have a filter on the lens for protection (I always have a polarizer for this reason, and because it noticeably bumps up the saturation when things are wet) and that the lens and bodies are weather-sealed, if they're not, you'll need to cover them in a plastic bag (plastic grocery bags work fine, as do clear 10 gallon trash bags). I have to do this with my 100-400 which is not weather sealed.

I have a cloth that I use to wipe off the filter between shots. It's proving to be inadequate, I need a larger cloth (and more of them), because the one I use now gets drenched quickly. Also rectangular GND filters suck when they get water drops on them as they're harder to dry off since there's two sides, you dry off one side, and the other side is wet again (at least if you hand-hold them like I do).

But, waterfall spray isn't as common as normal rain, in normal rain, it's a lot easier to keep it dry. I always have the lens cap on unless I'm shooting, and have camera and lens body covered until I'm ready to shoot. I let the body get pretty wet (as it's weather sealed) while shooting but try to keep an eye on the front of the lens since that's what actually affects the shots the most.

schmoo wrote:

As for the video, I love this one and your other "oops" one, too. I find that since the 5D mic is so sensitive, I just disable the mic in the settings. AFAIK there is no adjustment for the ISO in movie mode and it's all automagic, and this was one source of contention with Canon folks.

Interesting on the ISO, I can see how they would want it to be automatic by *default* but there should be a way to say "hey camera, let me handle the exposure here and you just record the stupid scene OK?"

I wanted the mic to be on to show how loud the falls are, the problem is when the wind hits the mic dead on, I'm sure if I cupped it you could hear the falls fine without that distraction. If I shoot other videos where I don't want the sound, I'll make sure to mute it in the camera or in post processing (which means in the camera because I have no idea how to post-process videos).

coscorrosa · January 9, 2009

Abiciriderback wrote:

I thought you might be there today. I tried yesterday but the 203 was closed about 4 miles outside Monroe. So went back up Hwy2 to Skykomish.
Just amazing the amount of water everywhere.

Ray Still

It really is crazy, I hope it calms down quickly, it's getting ridiculous, I'm lucky that it doesn't affect me directly, but there are many people who aren't as lucky, and they're getting hit again so soon after the last floods.

But, if you can make it down to the falls, I would really recommend it, even if you don't get any photos. I was on a high all day long at work (a natural one this time), it was quite a spectacle, and the only way to do it justice is to view it in person.

Shootin1st · January 9, 2009

Awesome shot, especially since you have the "normal" to compare.

ChrisJ · January 10, 2009

coscorrosa wrote:

the only way to do it justice is to view it in person.

I highly agree... I think I saw it close to this stage several years ago. Incredible power. I love the comparison shot, too.

Hope everyone in the flood plains stays safe, though...

scole · January 10, 2009

Great shot- thanks for getting after it. Wish I could have done the same but I've spent 24 of the last 48 hours working in my county's Emergency Management Center. Hope to get out for some photos over the weekend but haven't decided where to poke around, though.

dlplumer · January 10, 2009

coscorrosa wrote:

That's an easy one, I don't keep it clean or dry! At least not at the falls when the water is falling in the wrong direction (and by that I mean coming up from the ground).

The main thing is to make sure you have a filter on the lens for protection (I always have a polarizer for this reason, and because it noticeably bumps up the saturation when things are wet) and that the lens and bodies are weather-sealed, if they're not, you'll need to cover them in a plastic bag (plastic grocery bags work fine, as do clear 10 gallon trash bags). I have to do this with my 100-400 which is not weather sealed.

Ron, these are extraordinary, but I'm curious as to what bodies you are using that are weather sealed?

speedsk8r · January 10, 2009

Love the second one not to crazy about the noise in the 1st photo th much blue.

coscorrosa · January 10, 2009

dlplumer wrote:

Ron, these are extraordinary, but I'm curious as to what bodies you are using that are weather sealed?

Canon 1D MIII and 5D MII. The former is definitely more rugged than the latter, although my copy has a tendency to lock up when exposed to < 30 degree temps for more than a few hours. I've only taken the 5D MII out a few times, but it's been raining/wet and cold and it seems to be doing pretty good.

coscorrosa · January 10, 2009

speedsk8r wrote:

Love the second one not to crazy about the noise in the 1st photo th much blue.

Agreed, although that's what it looked like (blue). I warmed up the colors and added it to the original post (and think it looks better than the first one). As for the noise, it was dark, the exposure was around 30 seconds at ISO 250, and the constant spray from the falls didn't help matters.

tlee · January 10, 2009

I like the warmer image best. Beautiful.

coscorrosa · January 11, 2009

OK, last update...
I think this is my "final" version:

Normally I process a photo once and that's it, but this was the only decent photo I got on this outing due to the spray (as it got lighter, the water on the lens got more noticeable and harder to keep off).

cj99si · January 12, 2009

I like that last version. Very impressive!

hawkeye978 · January 12, 2009

Ron,

The last version does look better with it warmed up. Beautiful picture!

greenpea · January 12, 2009

Great shots Ron!

I went there Saturday morning and tried to get a few pictures myself.

It was a pretty funny sight watching another 1/2 dozen photographers, camera's on tripods, sitting dripping wet (camera's dripping wet too) trying to get a good photo of the falls. Most of the people did NOT have weather sealed cameras and lenses.

rwells · January 12, 2009

Beautiful shot Ron.

Your very lucky to live in such a picturesque area of the nation.

Doesn't hurt that you've got great skills and a good eye too

coscorrosa · January 12, 2009

greenpea wrote:

Great shots Ron!

I went there Saturday morning and tried to get a few pictures myself.

It was a pretty funny sight watching another 1/2 dozen photographers, camera's on tripods, sitting dripping wet (camera's dripping wet too) trying to get a good photo of the falls. Most of the people did NOT have weather sealed cameras and lenses.

Heh, I was there on Saturday morning too (only briefly). I hoped to catch a good sunrise on Mt. Si (the road was closed to cars so I had to walk 1/2 mile or so), but the sunrise wasn't that great:

I went back to the falls but the light was past prime so I didn't get any great photos, but I took some more video (playing with my new toy), the falls weren't nearly as strong as the day before, and I'm sure by now they're running high but not at ridiculous levels:

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coscorrosa · January 12, 2009

rwells wrote:

Beautiful shot Ron.

Your very lucky to live in such a picturesque area of the nation.

Doesn't hurt that you've got great skills and a good eye too

Thanks Randy! I do feel very fortunate to have such easy access to a great amount of scenery.

coscorrosa · January 12, 2009

Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who commented who I didn't reply to directly

It makes a great photo but it came at a pretty high cost to people in the flood plains, hopefully the floods will take a break for a few years.

kdog · January 12, 2009

Beautiful, Ron. In a scary sort of way.

I love the embedded videos. I think it's the wave of the future (no pun intended).

Stay dry....
-joel

Snoqualmie Falls (2009 Flood Version)

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