Tips for Photographing Waterfalls
Once you take the time to visit a waterfall, you will want to get the best photo possible. The website
tutsplus.com — a website with free tutorials, learning guides, and online courses — has a free tutorial on photographing water- falls. You may not have or want to buy all this equipment and you may not use all these tips, but there are certainly tips in here that will help improve you waterfall photography.
The key to getting a silky water effect is to use a slow shutter speed, so most of the techniques described below revolve around this simple idea.
STEP 1: Get the right equipment. Required: wide angle zoom lens, polarizing filter, tripod. Recommended: 2-stop neutral density filter, remote shutter release, telephoto zoom lens.
Waterfalls are usually found in tight canyons, so most of the time a wide angle zoom lens will be necessary. The polarizing filter is good for at least three reasons: it eliminates reflec- tions on the water/rocks, saturates the greens around the waterfall, and reduces the amount of light entering your lens.
Most importantly though, you need a tripod to stabilize your camera for the long exposures.
Although not required, a 2-stop ND filter can help you get a longer shutter speed too (useful for brighter lighting conditions). A remote shutter release can help you get sharper im- ages by preventing you from shaking the camera. And finally, a telephoto zoom lens is helpful for zooming in on a specific part of the waterfall.
It’s also important to visit the waterfall when lighting conditions are ideal. Balanced and diffused light is great for waterfalls because it helps bring out details in the shadows and amplify the contrast. The best diffused light occurs on overcast days, but if you can’t wait for a cloudy day, then visit the waterfall at sunrise or sunset (as long as the entire fall is in the shade).
Compose your image:When you arrive at the waterfall, don’t setup your tripod right away. Walk around the waterfall and look through the viewfinder to explore different angles and camera positions. Here are few tips for composing your image:
• Shoot at an angle instead of directly in front of the falls.
• Zoom in closer with a telephoto lens and capture one small area instead of trying to capture the entire falls and surrounding area.
• Include foreground elements (e.g. rocks, 16 Living Well i March/April 2017
The Glory Hole is a waterfall found in the Boxley Valley in northern Arkansas.
flowers, etc)
• Adjust your polarizing filter: Once you’ve found a good composition, then it’s time to carefully adjust your polarizing filter to maximize its effect. While looking through the viewfinder, just rotate the filter and watch for the reflections to disappear.
• You might want to rotate it completely a few times just so you’re sure that you’ve found the best position.
In order to get that silky water effect you see in all the waterfall photographs, you’ll need a long shutter speed. So, here are a few recommended settings to start with:
Set the camera to Manual mode. If you’ve never shot in manual mode before, don’t worry. With waterfalls, shooting manual is especially easy.
Use a small aperture. This is necessary for two reasons: it helps you get a longer shutter and it helps keep everything in sharp focus. I recom- mend starting with f/16 and then going smaller if that doesn’t give you a slow enough shutter. Some photographers will tell you to always use the smallest aperture possible on your lens, but I avoid this because lenses usually lose sharpness at their smallest (and largest) apertures.
Use the lowest ISO speed on your camera. This also helps you get a longer shutter, but it has another benefit too: lower ISO speeds will produce less noise and capture more dynamic range. Since you’ll be using a long shutter speed, your image will be much more sensitive to noise, so a low ISO will help prevent that noise.
Start with a shutter speed of a few seconds. When photographing waterfalls, finding the right shutter speed involves a lot of experi- mentation, but a speed of 2 seconds is usually a good place to start. Be prepared to use shutter speeds ranging from 1 to 30 seconds.
Source:
https://photography.tutsplus.com
Planning a Picnic?
Depending on which waterfall you visit, you may be able to pack a picnic and bring a cool- er. If you want to pack sandwiches, try this incredible chicken salad recipe.
If you plan to camp anywhere along the way, don’t forget to pack the S’mores. If you are just out for a day trip, make these Easy S’more Bars. You can slice them up before you go and still get the taste of the classic dessert without ever building a campfire.
ULTIMATE CLASSIC CHICKEN SALAD
Everyone has their favorite classic chicken salad recipe and this is mine. It combines tender chicken, crunchy pecans, tart cranber- ries, sweet white grapes and the fresh taste of celery.
3½ cups chopped rotisserie chicken ½cup coarsely chopped pecans 2 tablespoons dried cranberries ½cup chopped celery ½cup halved white grapes 1/3 cup chopped red onion ¾cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (can sub- stitute apple cider vinegar) 1 teaspoon sugar Salt and pepper to taste
Remove skin from the rotisserie chicken and pull the meat off the bones. You will use most of the chicken for this recipe, but not all. Chop chicken into chunks.
In a large bowl, add the first six ingredients (through the red onion) and toss gently.
In another bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar. Stir together until chicken salad is well coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve or cover and refrigerate until it’s time to serve.
I like to serve mine with tortilla chips and eat it as a dip, or on croissants or ciabatta.
Source: “Rotisserie Chicken Queen: 50 Fab- ulous Recipes That Start With Rotisserie Chicken.”
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