Walking along a stream in a narrow gorge, a rumble can be heard in the distance…
A waterfall must be nearby!
There are few things in landscape photography that both excite and frustrate more than a beautiful waterfall. Waterfalls are a mesmerizing sight, from delicate to powerful, there is a sense of wonder watching them.
The fact that movement is something that grabs our attention is one of the things that make waterfalls something we gravitate toward. It’s that motion that holds our attention; and makes us forget about everything else.
This introduces a paradox: how to take something that at its essence is beautiful because of the unending motion and convey that sense of motion into a still frame?
So many times, have I photographed waterfalls only to return home so very disappointed with the results. Time and time again I would look at my images and just say, “That’s not at all what it was like to be there!” That’s where I started to rethink my approach; instead of focusing on the subject, start focusing on what it was like to be there!
With this new approach in mind, my goals were to try and better capture the scale of the scene, more of the surrounding environment, and the contrast of motion against the still landscape.
This first image was recently shot mid-day along Little Falls Creek in the Pioneer Mountains, Idaho. This small waterfall is one of many that I have photographed in the past but was not pleased with the results. For this shot I chose to cross the stream and shoot from the side instead of facing directly at the waterfall. The difference was night-and-day!
The next image is of a waterfall along Big Fall Creek, also in the Pioneer Mountains, Idaho. I have photographed this waterfall many times and always thought I could do better. It’s a difficult shot to get due to the harsh lighting and deep shadows caused by its location in a deep narrow gorge. Several images were taken to get enough “data” to build this version of the waterfall. After combining images to produce a single image that was as close to what I experience at the time, the result was finally what I had been looking for.
“Sometimes it’s just not going to happen”. This next image is not one that I would normally present, but it illustrates my point that “Sometimes you just have to be there and experience it for yourself”. This photograph is technically sound but fails to convey the beauty of the scene. Perhaps different lighting, atmosphere, or a little more creativity would make the difference. This time it just was not the right time or place.
The sense of scale… here just a gentle waterfall cascading over the cliffs next to a towering peak creates the scale that has been missing from many of my previous shots. Even though the waterfall is not the central focus of the image, it adds a dimension to the photograph that really makes the grandeur of the scene stand out.
Feeling like you are there… you don’t always need a waterfall or a raging river to capture moving water, a gentle stream will do just fine. Sometimes it is better not to force the illusion of motion in the scene, but rather focus on what you are feeling in the environment; in this instance, it’s tranquility.
Long and short exposures were combined to create a smooth water effect while preserving the details in the surrounding grasses and trees. Though not one of my favorite shots, it is loved by my wife Jane - and that’s more than enough reason to present it here!
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