Studying Waterfalls

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I thought I’d post some of my waterfall pics, providing the EXIF data (settings). If you have any questions, technical, geographic, or whatever, just let me know. Oh, and I shoot in “Manual” mode. Always.

Tioga Falls, Kentucky

Focal :: 28mm|| ISO :: 200 || Av :: f/7.1 || Tv :: 15 sec

Notes: This waterfall had a very weak stream, so a longer exposure was needed. It was also my first waterfall to shoot, so my settings weren’t ideal. But hey, that’s what learning is all about!

Dry Falls, North Carolina

Focal :: 28mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/10 || Tv :: 0.8 sec

Notes: This was a magical moment. The golden sunset above and beautiful misty waterfall below. Total drop of about 150 feet. If you look closely, you can see where people can walk behind the waterfall (hence the “dry” part). On Flickr, this is my most favorited photo, BTW. The one thing I didn’t like about it was the moving branch in the foreground (bottom right).

Looking Glass Falls, North Carolina

Focal :: 28mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/11 || Tv :: 3.2 sec

Notes: This was an image I believe I overexposed (3.2 seconds where it probably should have been more like 2 seconds). Do you see how harsh the waterfall looks? Detail and stream was lost. This was also an inverted job with the tripod where the camera was sitting just inches above the rocks. Because it is a popular waterfall in NC, we scheduled this waterfall shoot around 6:30 a.m. The drop was about 60 feet I think.

Turtleback Falls, North Carolina

Focal :: 28mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/22 || Tv :: 1.6 sec

Notes: This was a small waterfall, dropping only some 15 feet, but I really liked this shot. Contrary to the last shot, this one (in my opinion) was exposed just right. See the detail in the streams? I love the streaks. But also it was exposed enough to grab some detail from the rocks and trees. The angle might not be desired by some, but it was my attempt to do something creative with what some may consider a boring waterfall.

Rainbow Falls, North Carolina

Focal :: 28mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/22 || Tv :: 0.6 sec

Notes: As you can see, this waterfall had a blue-ish tint to it, and it was a majestic drop of over 200 feet. However, there wasn’t much around the waterfall to make for great composition. Plus, the massive rocks were pitch black, making them hard to get any details without overexposing the waterfall (exposure gradient not reconcilable). If you look closely, you can see some spots I forget to remove which are dust on the sensor.

Abram’s Falls, Tennessee

Focal :: 100mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/36 || Tv :: 1.3 sec

Notes: Nothing much to say, except I should have done a much better job with this waterfall. Located in Cades Cove, this waterfall could be nicely framed by the scenic surrounding. I hope to go back and do a better job next time!

Cascade Falls, Minnesota

Focal :: 65mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/29 || Tv :: 5 sec

Notes: The setting of this waterfall is probably as good as it gets. When I took this shot, it was raining, which brought out the colors nicely (your ball cap works as a nice umbrella for your camera). Notice that the longer your focal length, the more you can close your aperture (f/29 versus f/22). Usually the most perfect afternoons make for the worst waterfall pics (including a lot of people too). This picture was taken mid-day, yet it was raining and muddy. But boy, what a great time to capture a waterfall!

High Falls of the Pigeon River, Minnesota

Focal :: 65mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/29 || Tv :: 3.2 sec

Notes: This image is a good example of what I mean when trying to get a good composition. While the waterfall is beautiful in and of itself, I tried to capture the fall colors above, and the vibrant red plant in the foreground as well. Doing this provided a natural framing of the waterfall. Also, I was able to expose the massive rock ledge to get some nice detail in the cracks. This photo also was taken on a rainy day. However, the flow was unusually light (so I was told), so a little longer exposure was needed to get a nice milky look.

Ecuadorian Waterfall

Focal :: 100mm|| ISO :: 100 || Av :: f/22 || Tv :: 0.5 sec

Notes: This was my attempt to catch a beautiful waterfall on a swinging bridge without a tripod (!). In every waterfall shoot, you should take a bunch of pictures just in case one or two is out of focus, but in this case, I needed to take some twenty images to catch one decent shot.

I guess that’s it. I hope these last two posts have been helpful for those of you wanting to shoot more long exposure nature shots, and in particular, waterfalls. To view several of my waterfall images on Flickr, go here.