Tips and Techniques for Photographing Waterfalls

First find a waterfall. Preferably one you like. Like making it into work in the morning the tough part is done. You will want a tripod with a remote triggering device. In case you will be in close proximity to the falls or if the breeze and turbulence is kicking up a good bit of mist bring covering for lens and camera or at least something to wipe them with and keep them dry. A windbreaker for the bod isn’t a bad idea either in such conditions.

You want to keep water from seeping into your control panels and buttons which could harm the electronics. Plus if you are a four eyes like me you’ll need a good cloth to keep your eyeglasses dry so you can see what you are doing. Duh!

Trails to falls can often times be very slippery, so wear an appropriate pair of shoes or boots for the trek.

Waterfalls are often situated so that you will have considerable contrast in a scene when attempting to get a landscape photo. You often will be dealing with bright sun and dark shade depending on the time of day.

Perhaps coming back at another time of day would prove advantageous. We don’t always have that luxury however, nor at my age do I desire to trek another three mile roundtrip over craggy ankle twisting rocks at a 30 degree incline uphill half the way. So, generally, what I see is what I deal with once I’m there.

It would be great if you could find someone in advance to tell you where the light strikes the falls a certain time of day, but that still has its problems as opposed to being there. Overcast and rainy days can be very favorable since the light is more evenly distributed. You can also try to isolate a section of the falls where you can deal with less contrast.

Barring less than favorable lighting conditions mount your camera on your tripod and proceed. If you choose to have a photo result in a waterfall with a cotton candy effect or silky look use a slow shutter speed. I find speeds of ¼ second to 1 or even 2 seconds best. Start there and experiment with other speeds.

Water volume and mist will be two factors in deciding the appropriate exposure settings, particularly rock sections where high volumes of water merge and splash outward. These can result in washed out(excessively white/bright) sections of your picture due to the long exposures. Lots of mist can result in the same effect. You can check quickly though if you are using a digital camera, otherwise bracket your exposures(vary the shutter speed and/or aperture settings for a few shots so the f-stop is changed by 1 or 2 stops above and below the indicated correct exposure. Change the f-stop in increments of 1/2 or 1 stop.). Long exposures work best with low water volume waterfalls.

You will want a small aperture for depth of field especially if you are framing the waterfall. When I can I like to use tree branches and leaves for framing the waterfall. Be mindful of wind though that could cause the leaves to become blurred at slow speeds.

Polarizers can be used to reduce light and decrease glare on rocks and reflective water. Neutral density(ND) filters may be necessary to decrease the light to achieve the slow speeds coupled with small apertures. I keep a 2-stop and a 4-stop ND filter and have found one or the other is sufficient for most situations. Be careful when stacking filters, you don’t want vignetting(edges of your filter appearing on the periphery in the photo) in the picture. This can be a problem when using wide angle lenses.

Generally shooting from below the falls has a more appealing look than from above, however don’t follow that as a rule. Try shooting at angles from above as well. Experiment with wide angle, normal, and telephoto lenses for different views. Depending on the landscape try vertical and horizontal shots. Also watch for distractions. Yes, there are beer cans often floating in paradise left by some mindless goon or other distractions like telephone poles or high wires sometimes.

By all means if you don’t like the cotton candy effect then shoot at faster speeds. You’ll find that faster speeds can freeze water droplets in mid-air with distance from the falls and other factors like water volume determining visual effect. Experiment for the look that satisfies you best.

In my opinion neither cotton candy nor frozen motion effects look natural for waterfalls and it is one time when I photograph that is an exception to trying to make a scene look like I saw it. That’s just the nature of flowing water and still camera shots. I prefer the cotton candy effect when I can get it, but even faster speeds can prove to look good depending on a number of factors, so I shoot those too.

Once you are done, find another waterfall and start all over!

authored by Lon Britton