Waterfalls are an amazing sight to see. Pristine waters flow down the river through the forest only to plunge over a cliff in a torrent of raging water and a deafening rumble. I am fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest, when I go hiking pretty much any where in the forest, its a good chance a waterfall is not far away. I always bring a camera with me to photograph these beautiful water features in the forest. Anyone can just take a picture of the waterfall, but if you really want to capture the feeling of that waterfall, this guide will teach you how to create beautiful pictures of waterfalls that you would be proud to hang on your wall.
When To Go
The best time to visit a waterfall depends on all sorts of things. For some waterfalls, the best time go to see them might be when the rivers are flowing their their hardest. But some waterfalls might grow so large that they are dangerous to visit during heavy rainfalls. It varies from waterfall to waterfall. You will just have to research it for your local waterfalls. Here is a great site if you are in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. WaterfallsNorthwest.com
Depending on your climate, the best time might be early winter, all the way through late spring. When the rain starts to fall, the rivers fill up and those waterfalls grow large again. Another good time is when the snow pack starts to melt, and the rivers channel all that snow melt over the waterfalls. Some waterfalls flow year round, while other waterfalls completely dry up in the summer, only to return to life when the water starts to flow.
What you need
Of course you don’t need all the items listed below. But all of these things that I use to assist in creating beautiful pictures of waterfalls. But the only things you truly need when photographing waterfalls is a camera, and a waterfall. :p
- Tripod -You want to keep your camera dead still. To achieve that silky flowing water look, you will need to shoot an exposure 1 second or longer, and any movement the camera makes will cause image blur.
- Wide angle lens – When I am shooting waterfalls, I like to get up close to the falls. Because you are so close, it can be difficult to capture the whole falls in a single shot. A Wide angle lens helps you achieve this. But if you can only get within eye sight of the waterfall, a longer focal length will get you closer to the waterfall. try to have the waterfall as big as possible in the picture. Fill that frame.
- Neutral density Filter – In order to get that silky looking water, you need to keep your shutter open for a few seconds, but the picture will be over exposed if you let in that much light. A Neutral Density “ND” filter cuts the amount of light entering the camera. Think of a neutral density filter as sunglasses for your camera. You wear Sunglasses on bright sunny days to cut the amount of light entering your eyes. Its exactly the same with a camera and an ND filter.
- Polarizing Filter – Whenever I am shooting water, I always like to have a Polarizing Filter on my lens. A polarizer helps to reduce the glare on the surface of the water and any wet surfaces. The colors seem to pop more, and you see more detail below the surface of the water.
- A Map and Compass – Waterfalls are often deep in the woods or off the beaten path. It is easy to get turned around and get lost in the wilderness. Make sure you have a compass and a map with you when your in the backwoods. Also tell somebody where you are going to be in case you do not get back on time. Play it safe.
Settings
- Exposure Mode – Because you want to use a specific shutter speed, you will need to either be in Shutter Priority or Manual Mode. I personally like to use Manual Mode because I have complete over the exposure. I don’t want the camera to think I want to use an aperture of f4 in one shot, and f22 in the next. You are just at the mercy of the camera when you are in using shutter priority.
- Exposure Length – If you want that silky smooth looking water, you need to use a shutter speed of 1 second or more. But if you just want to give it a slight blur, 1/30th of a second will cause a slight blur. But if you want to freeze the water in place, A shutter speed of 1/250th or higher is required. Pick whichever style you like more.
- Aperture – I will usually start with an aperture of f11 to f16 to begin with. But if I forgot to pack my ND filter, I will close down that aperture all the way to f22 or as high as it will go. This will enable me to use a long shutter speed without overexposing the shot.
- ISO – Use a low ISO. I set mine to ISO 100 because that gives me the cleanest picture and allows me to use a longer shutter speed because ISO 100 takes in less light than ISO 200 or higher.
- Histogram – turn on the histogram to make sure you do not clip those highlights. If the image is over exposed, the histogram will show lines pushed all the way up to the right.
Protect Your Camera Gear
It is wet at the bottom of waterfalls! You and your camera will get soaked if you are close enough. You will dry out, but you can destroy your camera if you get water on it. Many cameras come with a weather sealing but that can still leak and soak the camera.
A protective rain cover for your camera will keep your camera dry and safe away from water. Think of it as a rain jacket for your camera. You can read more about keeping your camera dry HERE: Shooting Great Photos in the Rain.
A Lens Hood will help keep water drops off the front of the lens. Those little water drops can ruin your beautiful waterfall photo. They can be removed later in Photoshop, but it can be very time consuming to do it during post processing.
Use a Lens Cloth to keep the front of the lens clear of water drops. Bring several of them, depending on how wet it is, you can saturate your lens cloth in no time. A wet lens cloth just smudges water around the glass. And constantly be wiping that the front element with that cloth. Water mist is floating around all throughout the air at the base of waterfalls and will land on your camera lens immediately.
Protect Yourself – Make sure you keep yourself dry. It is no fun to be out taking pictures while you are completely soaked and cold. Get a good rain jacket, rain pants, rain boots, and gloves. Keep dry and you can be out there for hours without slowing down. Check out the Recommended Gear section to see the very best gear to keep you and your gear warm and dry.
Composition
Waterfalls are big, it can be difficult to get a good composition of them. Use these tips below to get the very best shot possible of those amazing waterfalls.
- Make sure the waterfall is falling straight down. You can use a bubble level to make sure your camera is level to the horizon.
- A foreground object can help balance the image and lead the viewers eye into the image. Something like a boulder in the water works great for this.
- Leading lines will also draw the viewers eye into the image. the waters edge as it flows down stream or a branch works great as leading lines.
- Shoot a panorama – because these waterfalls are so big, you might need to take multiple pictures to be able to capture the entire thing. You can shoot a vertical or horizontal panorama no problem, You can later easily stitch these pictures together in Lightroom or Photoshop. When shooting a panorama, it is important that you take all those pictures with the exact same settings so the lighting conditions do not change from image to image resulting in a funky panorama. Just make sure you shoot plenty of pictures for the panorama. include more of the surrounding rock than you think you need. It might come in handy later.
- Don’t be afraid to get into the water. The best composition might be from the middle of the creek. You can sure bet no other photographers where you are at are going to wade into the water to get that shot. You can stand out from the crowd by having an original composition of an often shot location.
- The best spot might not be up close to the waterfall. People will show up and get all the way up to the edge of a viewing platform to take their picture. Instead, get back, maybe way back to find an original composition. Check out the Recommended Gear section to see a list of the best boots to keep you dry when wading into the water. Just be careful, don’t slip on the wet rocks or wade into water that is too deep.
- Having people in your shot will create interest in the foreground, a connection to the image, and give a sense of scale and may make the waterfall look all that much larger.
There you have it, use these things you learned above and go out and create some of the best waterfalls you have ever taken. If you want more great photography tips like these, make sure you Like Photo Lowdown on Facebook. I post over there all of the time about all things Photography.