Waterfall Weekend (Part 2): Rivers of Gold

River of gold  –  30 second exposure.

Reflections of the beech tree’s Autumn color creates a gold cast at slow shutter speeds. Carefully lining up the angle of the reflection and using a polarizer set just right to enhance the contrast of the scene takes some practice and patience.

8 second exposure.

Knowing the light, like when the sun will pass over the falls creating a spotlight, helps with waterfall photography. These falls are very difficult to photograph after 11am on a sunny day as the sun becomes to harsh and contrasty.

1/4 second exposure.

Waterfalls are typically best shot looking upstream, as these students are doing.

1/3 second exposure.

However, sometimes we can find interesting shapes while looking downstream and have a better understanding of when it is appropriate to ‘break the rules’ of composition.

30 second exposure.

Generally a 1 second to 3 second exposure is perfect for getting the ‘veil effect’ with waterfalls, however, now and then I like to go a bit longer to get a more ‘liquid’ effect.