Waterfall Shots Are Boring and Cliched

[TwoWheeler]

…that’s why I’m at a place with 22 of them. Fortunately for you most of what I’ve been able to get onto my ipad are off my drone, so you’ll be spared…for now.

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[Wings and Things]

Boring? Not to me. Cliched? Maybe. This is a lovely set of falls and well captured.

 

[TwoWheeler]

Boring? Not to me. Cliched? Maybe. This is a lovely set of falls and well captured.

Dunno. To me <subjectivity alert!> waterfall photos are kind of done-to-death…and I include mine under that blanket statement.

The very things I like about waterfalls are really impossible to capture in a still shot - the sound, the motion and sometimes, the (mossy, damp) smell. We can try to imply motion by using a slow shutter, but that’s kind of a cheesy Band-Aid.

Maybe I’m just bitter because, in all my years of waterfall photos, I’ve never gotten one I’ve been truly happy with. (This did inspire me to go back and try and recreate one of my earliest photos - a local waterfall - though. I don’t have the original - shot with a Yashica FX3 - but it might be fun, just for excrement and hilarity, to try.

 

[Dean Wilson]

There are many, many waterfalls available to photograph in our area (something due to it raining more times than not) and some, like Multnomah Fall have been photographed ad nauseum.

What I try is a composition that is unique and interesting, for example Fairy Falls is a fan shaped and every photo look similar to each other. So, I positioned myself to the left of the falls and focused on the right. Thus, staying out of the way of people and their cellphones and came away with this.

The trail follows directly in front of the falls, so you are about 10 feet away.

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[TwoWheeler]

What I try is a composition that is unique and interesting,

That's a great one - what really makes it is the light. We don't have that here - we either have blazing sun or "18% gray card".

Yeah, my post title was tongue-in-cheek clickbait, but there's a degree of truth there. Since I do find many waterfall shots to be same-old same-old (including mine), I try to find something unique, but it's damned hard! I've tried fall shots, winter shots, slow shots... One thing that has helped some, is the drone. That's enabled me to "stand" in a place for a shot I couldn't get otherwise - without getting wet or having to remember to hit the shutter button as I plummet to my death.

One of my most unique shots was an accident. One of the things I grew to dislike about my Fuji was that often, when I pulled it out of the bag, I'd bumped one or more of the "physical dials" I initially loved. On this occasion, I'd knocked the exposure comp down like, three stops. When I put the camera to my eye, it was so dark almost all I could see were the splashes of water on the rocks. "What the hell?....heeeey, wait a minute...." I shot it that way and perverted it to B&W and ended up with a shot that I felt captured some of the essence of what a waterfall is. Not skill, luck.

Another thing that's helped is printing LARGE.

Still, I frequent such places because, they encompass other things I like to shoot - birds, wildlife, plants, abstracts. I went to a place with FIVE waterfalls...and took this:

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If nothing else, If I go places like that, I know I can pick the low-hanging fruit and take a "pretty" shot.

 

[ShipleyNW]

I live about 5 miles from Snoqualmie Falls. It's gorgeous and I have some great shots from there.

But it's easy to get to. You can drive right up, there's plenty of parking, paved paths along the cliffs with great views, fancy lodge, fancy restaurant, 40 minutes from Seattle out the interstate. It gets a lot of visitors. If I had to guess, I'd say 15-20 thousand images are made of that falls, daily. And most of those are at least pretty good, but they don't get much better than that.

It's actually kinda tough to shoot. The bowl that it falls into sees about 2 hours of sunlight, maybe 15 days a year. The rest of the time, that bowl is in deep shadow, so you have to deal with that. But that's always how it is. That part doesn't change.

The key to shooting Snoqualmie Falls is to concentrate on the landscape around the falls and hope that the gods of light hand you something that will elevate that shot into something unique. The odds are slim so I don't go out there much. But it has happened, more than once.

I don't have any pictures of Snoqualmie Falls made with an R camera. I was there last winter and ran into another local photographer and we were both lamenting the conditions. We hung around for an hour or so hoping the light would change, but it never did. This is the only shot that I kept from that visit.

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I'm trying to limit my posts to R pictures on this forum, but I've been talking about something you need to see. Here's one I shot with a 6Dii, 3 winters ago. I was already having a pretty good B&W day when this happened. Lasted for about 3 minutes.

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[TwoWheeler]

I live about 5 miles from Snoqualmie Falls. It's gorgeous and I have some great shots from there.

I live about 5 minutes from here:

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I have taken many, many iterations of the same shot since 1979 - because it's about the only available angle - and they all suck. But I keep trying.

It gets a lot of visitors.

<TWITCH> Maybe one of the perks of being a lifelong practitioner of Antisocial Distancing is that I go places when it is least likely that other humans might be present - early morning and/or crappy weather. This might keep me from taking "standard" shots by default.

The key to shooting Snoqualmie Falls is to concentrate on the landscape around the falls and hope that the gods of light hand you something that will elevate that shot into something unique.

I try to remind myself to look around at the whole scene and all the details, large and small, not just "missile lock" on the falls itself. Sometimes I'm actually successful. Here, I think the idea has merit, but the execution is lacking:

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I'm trying to limit my posts to R pictures on this forum, but I've been talking about something you need to see. Here's one I shot with a 6Dii, 3 winters ago. I was already having a pretty good B&W day when this happened. Lasted for about 3 minutes.

Ah, taken before your RF Enlightenment... That's an amazing shot - I'd probably sell my camera after that.

I took this Monday - an experiment in focus bracketing in landscape photography as much as anything. I printed it A3+ and it seemed to hold up. Next week, I'll try printing it on the mega-printer at work.

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[Josh217]

…that’s why I’m at a place with 22 of them. Fortunately for you most of what I’ve been able to get onto my ipad are off my drone, so you’ll be spared…for now.


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[Josh217]

I don’t find them boring at all. Cliche maybe. Love hiking Rickettes.

 

[TwoWheeler]

I don’t find them boring at all. Cliche maybe. Love hiking Rickettes.

See what I mean????

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[Grandadfatboy]

One thing that has helped some, is the drone. That's enabled me to "stand" in a place for a shot I couldn't get otherwise - without getting wet or having to remember to hit the shutter button as I plummet to my death.

Please spare a thought for those of us who are keen amateur photographers, but are confined to a mobility scooter or wheelchair. Waterfalls that we can get reasonably near to, but not "head on" to so to speak, may well give us the slightly different perspective for the shot that makes it a little more interesting.

I'm off to the Lake District UK in October, so along with the autumnal colours, I'm expecting the falls to be in full flow and I'm researching those that I can at least get close to. Bring on them waterfalls.

I don't know why I am so fascinated with waterfalls, I just am.

 

[TwoWheeler]

I don't know why I am so fascinated with waterfalls, I just am.

Yeah, the title was a tongue in cheek, clickbait expression of my frustration with them - for me, the pictures never live up to the sublime reality. I love them and have been taking photos of them since 1979, but only ever gotten one or two that make me go “….yeah…” A still photo doesn’t convey the sound or the motion - both of which are attributes I love.

I also threw down on waterfalls as subjects…and then proceeded to post a bunch of pictures of them, hoping someone would call me out for my “hypocrisy”, but no one did. You guys are just no fun. (Or smart enough not to take the bait…)

Please spare a thought for those of us who are keen amateur photographers, but are confined to a mobility scooter or wheelchair.

Would a drone be right up your alley? This falls was the one that prompted me to buy one. After hiking three miles in, the only perspective is a “window” through the trees - and you can only see about half, unless you move forward about another ten feet and hope your camera survives after you’re airlifted out of the gorge…

 

[Grandadfatboy]

Yeah, the title was a tongue in cheek, clickbait expression of my frustration with them - for me, the pictures never live up to the sublime reality. I love them and have been taking photos of them since 1979, but only ever gotten one or two that make me go “….yeah…” A still photo doesn’t convey the sound or the motion - both of which are attributes I love.

I also threw down on waterfalls as subjects…and then proceeded to post a bunch of pictures of them, hoping someone would call me out for my “hypocrisy”, but no one did. You guys are just no fun. (Or smart enough not to take the bait…)

Would a drone be right up your alley? This falls was the one that prompted me to buy one. After hiking three miles in, the only perspective is a “window” through the trees - and you can only see about half, unless you move forward about another ten feet and hope your camera survives after you’re airlifted out of the gorge…

Yes, a drone would be the perfect answer to some of the issues of reaching better vantage points. I'm currently off-loading items from a previous hobby to fund better camera equipment. I have just funded a new R7 plus RF100-400, and I'm considering adding the RF 24-105 f4 and the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A RXD as and when funds permit. Should there be sufficient funds after that, then I've had my eye on the DJI Mini 4 Pro.

The falls in the link you provided are, like you say, quite a hike. Would I be correct in assuming Nova is the name of your dog? He or she is lovely and looks like they had a great time. From the photos just getting to the falls looks a right task on its own, and then not to be able to get into the perfect position for the shot would make me want to risk moving into that "perfect" position to get the shot.

My issue is, I want to photograph many genres, landscape, astrophotography, wildlife, classic cars shows, motor sport and architecture, hence I'm trying to purchase the best lenses I can to cover those genres.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

Waterfalls are like every other type of photography - light, exposure, composition make or break the photo. I don't do them a lot, but when I do I likely think about those rules more than any other time.

The one variable you have the most influence over is exposure as you generally can't fix natural light (come back tomorrow, and the next day...) and vantage points are generally limited. When I started I knew nothing about neutral density filters (and hated tripods), and stopped water is generally not appealing unless you're capturing fine detail in high res (ie. you're not capturing the landscape, you're getting the power of the water). Once I discovered them I found that exposure length wasn't something that you can just stick with at every fall. Sometimes you need 5+ seconds to capture what's happening at the base of the falls otherwise all you have is blurred falling water. Other times 1 second or even less is enough. I'm finally at the point where I'll bracket these shots, taking 2 or 3 images at each shutter speed starting at one end and reducing/increasing it 1/2 second at a time.

The beautiful thing about mirrorless is that you no longer have to frame your shot, get your exposure, and then put on the filter and use an ND calculator to calculate the new exposure.

 

[Dean Wilson]

The beautiful thing about mirrorless is that you no longer have to frame your shot, get your exposure, and then put on the filter and use an ND calculator to calculate the new exposure.

I still use a calculator for 10+ stop ND's.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

I still use a calculator for 10+ stop ND's.

When you get into 10+ stops it's really another ballgame. My point is that the R cameras are generally good enough to get you close off the sensor and you can always adjust after looking at the first histogram, likely in a lot less time than it will take you to put the filter on and use the app.