Waterfall Photography Trials and Tribulations

Although waterfalls are often one of the more challenging images to capture, they also offer a unique opportunity.

A waterfall may be captured with a soft and silky look, giving it a gentle attitude. A waterfall may be captured with a more aggressive and natural look, giving it a strong and forceful attitiude. Choosing which attitude you want to capture is the fun and challenge of waterfall photography.

To capture the gentle attitude of the waterfall you must use a slow shutter speed, about 1 to 2 seconds will achieve a nice soft blur. Having a slow shutter speed will necesitate using a tripod or your picture will not only blur the water movement but the entire picture will be blurred due to camera shake. The next issue with the slow shutter speed will be too much light, the aperture will need to be set at the smallest opening available for your lens. (f/22 or f/36)

To capture the strong and more natural waterfall attitude you will find it much easier. The auto mode will work pretty good at capturing this attitude. Faster shutter speeds will make it easier and a tripod may not be necessary.

Waterfalls may be shot from various angles. The photographer must decide what view is the most pleasing view.

A waterfall image may be shot from the foot of the falls looking up, or it could be shot from the top, looking down.
The final result is entirely different.
To make things even more fun, you could shoot the waterfall from the water, hopefully before you go over the falls. This would be one of the more difficult shots to be sure. Holding an expensive camera just as you are coming to the top of a falls could get pretty scary. Holding the camera steady enough to capture a good image would be challenging.

In normal circumstances a tripod would be the best option to hold a camera steady but in this case I don't think the tripod option would work well.
Myself, I would opt out of the in-the-water shot and go for the on-the-bank shot anytime. On the bank I can use a tripod if desired to get the entire waterfall, top to bottom. I can also get the slow shutter speed or fast shutter speed I like. The in-the-water shot would eliminate the possibility of a slow shutter speed.

Finding a great location to shoot a waterfall photograph is not all that difficult. You can search online and find the nearest waterfalls or you can check out the bookstore or library for aritcles and books on great waterfall locations.

I have numerous waterfalls located within a few miles of my home. I thought I might recommend a couple of great waterfalls where I really enjoy taking waterfall images.

Tennessee has some great waterfalls. So if you want waterfall pics you might want to head to one of these two.

1. Bald River Falls, this is an easy to access falls. You do not have to walk far to get to the falls, you can actually shoot from your car window. If you do like to venture a little bit farther, you can capture a great view by just walking down under the bridge.
Do be careful, make sure to protect your equipment. There is quite a bit of spray coming from the falls when the waterflow is good. Take a plastic bag for your camera or keep it covered until you take your shot.

2. Foster Falls- this is another very easy access falls. At this particular falls you can get a great waterfall image by simiply walking a few yards from the parking lot. There is a trail for the more adventurous, that goes to the bottom of the falls. This hike is well worth the trip, there is a splendid view here.
Again keep your camera well protected there is a lot of spray. There is also a more gentle trail leading to the very top of the waterfall.

3. Frozen Head State Park- there are a few great waterfalls in this beautiful park. The park is located near Knoxville, TN. There are several nice waterfalls along a 1.5 mile trail. The trail is an easy walk and well worth the effort.

Another challenge of waterfall photography is exposure. The exposure is often very difficult as you are dealing with a high contrast situation. You have white water, often with the sun shining on parts of it and you have dark wet rocks and shadows in the surrounding foliage.

So, what is the best approach? I know there are numerous approaches you can take to deal with the conflicting light, but I usually take what I believe to be the easiest approach. I let my digital camera do all the work.

I set the camera on auto exposure and I get the exposure of the most neutral area I can find in the waterfall or surrounding area. I choose an area as near as possible to the area I plan to focus on but an area with no bright sunlight or dark shadows. After I meter, or get my exposure, I hold down the button to lock the exposure and then re-adjust my composition for the picture I want to take.

Once I take this picture I look at the outcome and see how it came out. If it appears too washed out in any important areas I adjust my exposure down a stop or two and recapture the shot. I then take another look at the results. If it is now too dark with no details in certain areas, I just open the aperture back up by a stop or a half stop.

This is the best thing about digital cameras, you can preview and try again.

I thought I would add another great place to visit to practice your waterfall photography. Amicolola Falls in Georgia, near Dahlonega, Ga, is a great place to get a waterfall shot.
It is an easy walk to the falls if you park in the parking lot halfway to the top of the falls and walk the short trail. The trail is well maintained and not at all difficult. When you arrive at the falls you can set up a tripod and get some great shots of the falls.
Do not go all the way to the top of the falls and take the steps down, unless you really like stairs, there are over 245 of them to reach the same spot. Walking all the way up from the lower parking lot is a long uphill trail so the middle trail half way up is your best bet.