CameraCrazy

Waterfalls are probably one of the more popular subjects of photographers. I remember getting excited and still do when I look into a nature book and see the token waterfall shot, complete with that velvet river of water and rich, often surreal colors. The aesthetic quality of these photographs always seem to inspire photographers, they look great, contain colors or textures that work well and relatively simple to do.

What Kind of Equipment is Needed?

The kind of equipment you need is dependent upon the type of waterfall picture you want to take. If you’re looking for the basic shot that freezes the water capturing individual drops or splashes in mid air, than you can get away with using anything as basic as a point and shoot camera. If you’re looking for a more artistic look with the velvet looking water (like the photo above) than we are dealing with longer exposures and thus a DSLR and a tripod are strongly recommended, if not a must.

Waterfall Types and Shutter Speeds

A lot of people new to photographing waterfalls wonder what shutter speed they need to use. Unfortunately, or better yet, fortunately there are no set rules, the shutter speed and aperture combination you choose is solely dependent on the effect you are looking for. There are a couple of guidelines that you can follow to help you get the effect you want. The first guideline is the most obvious and generally works well in all photography: the faster the shutter speed the more freezing of the water. The problem with this when photographing water is that what is considered a fast shutter speed is relative to the speed of the water you are shooting. In other words photographing a raging river or Niagara Falls may require a different shutter speed than a small creek or babbling brook.

High Flow versus Low Flow

I like to think of this in terms of the amount of water that passes by the cameras sensor (or film) for the given time that it is open. The more water that passes by means a more streamlined or steady look. So water flowing at a fast rate will tend to look more streamlined and steady than the same shutter speed on a small crick.

Other Useful Equipment

The use of neutral density and polarizer filters can be quite useful when photographing water. Neutral density filters or variable neutral density filters work well because it allows the photographer to play around even more with exposure without risking blowing out part of the picture. Ultimately, the best neutral density filter would be a variable one, however, if you’re not willing to fork out the $300, then try out a homemade variable neutral density filter. Comments on the filter suggest that there may be a color shift so if you do use one it may be necessary to play around with the colors in the post-processing. A polarizer works well to alter or remove reflections off the water and saturate colors. For example, rocks or leaves surrounding the waterfall will often be covered in a thin layer of water and show a lot of reflections, the polarizers can remove those and make the photo pop.

Take Your Time

There is something about rushing or falling water that excited people, making it easy to get caught up in the scenery and forget about the basics of photography, so take your time! When I first arrive at a waterfall, I often leave the camera in its bag while I explore and enjoy the sites. Wander around (be careful not to slip) and look past the waterfall and see the whole seen including the plants, animals and landscapes. The more exploring you do the better the photos you will get, often people often react too fast to the big attraction, forgetting the basics which often leads to the proverbial “telephone pole coming out of the head” syndrome. This is where the excitement of a great photo overwhelms the photographer into not noticing obvious distractions. I find if you stay for a half hour or so and allow the initial excitement to wear off (or at least allow yourself to become habituated to it), when you do go to take a photo you can focus more on the composition and avoid distractions. Keep in mind that what attracted you to come out and photograph a waterfall are the same thing that attracts other people and if you’re really lucky, a tourist bus! Try and get there early, if you’re photographing a popular waterfall, rather than trying to shoot around people and having your ‘prime’ spot taken. The advantages of going early aside from avoiding tourist is the light is better (especially around sunrise) and you have the chance to just enjoy the seen.

Experiment

Trial and error is often the way to get the effect you want, bracketing, changing lenses or filters will show you what you’re doing right to get your desired effect or even show you different effects that you may not have thought of.

Safety

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a waterfall, but always keep in mind that there are a lot of hazardous conditions or situations that you can get into (even for small waterfalls). Don’t take stupid risks, I often see people trying to get as close as possible, and casually hopping on wet rocks. Sadly, in my adventures to different waterfalls, I see too many signs telling a story of someone who got too close and slipped, usually with a fatal outcome. Be sensible, a lot of people think to get the best shot you need to get as close as possible, this is almost never the case. The risk of slipping on wet ground or rocks is very high around waterfalls (even small ones), likewise the water currents can be much stronger than what they may look like.