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Arkansas

#24/52: Waterfall Photography

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I’ve always wanted to photograph a waterfall and finally got my chance. I’m so happy with it! Shot this waterfall photo at Devils Den State Park in Northwestern Arkansas on my Mother/Daughter camping trip. I climbed out on the rocks, quite a feat since I’m afraid of heights, and a flat rock acted as my tripod.

Waterfall photography
ISO 100, f/20, 75mm, 1.3 sec Canon Rebel XS (click for larger image)

Only took two photos since the sun was going behind the trees and after looking at the results in the camera I was more than pleased. Being from Nebraska I don’t have much of an opportunity to practice waterfalls photography.

Editing notes: Almost none, opened in Lightroom 4, straightened a few degrees, adjusted white balance for a little more warmth, that was it!

Tips For Good Waterfall Photography

  • Set your camera on Manual or Shutter priority
  • Experiment with long exposures starting at 1/2 second and going up from there. The longer the exposure the smoother the water effect
  • Increase your aperture as high as it will go to reduce over exposure in sunny conditions (this photo was taken on a cloudy overcast day)
  • Use a neutral density filter on sunny days for really long exposures
  • Use a tripod and a shutter trigger
  • If you don’t have a tripod, or a good place to set up find a sturdy rock
  • To avoid blur if you don’t have a shutter release set the automatic timer

 

What Equipment Do You Need to Photograph a Waterfall

Photography doesn’t need to be complicated, nor does it need to cost a lot of money. The shot above was done with a very simple DSLR Canon Rebel camera sitting on a rock on shutter priority and the self programmed timer. You know the setting, set it for 2-10 seconds, run and get in the photo. It was a cloudy day so I didn’t have to worry about sun glare. The conditions were perfect, I had a perfectly placed flat rock and perfect weather.

However, conditions are not always perfect and having the right photography tools on hand can make it easier to get the photograph you envision. I’ve always wanted a Gorilla pod, one just because they look cool, but other reasons is they are so very flexible and you can wrap them around a tree limb.

I have since purchased a Neutral Density filter and this will act lessen the sun glare and bright spots and enhance the ambient colors. Works great for sunrises and sunsets to bring out color.

Manfrotto BeFree Compact Lightweight Tripod for Travel PhotographyJoby GP1-A1EN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod (Grey)Hoya 62mm HMC Neutral Density ND8 Multi-Coated GlassNeewer LCD Timer Shutter Release Remote Control for

Learn More About Waterfall Photography

Beginner’s Guide to Waterfall Photography – Digital Photography …

Beginner’s Guide to Waterfall Photography – Learn the tips, tricks, and techniques that will help you improve your waterfall photography.

Waterfall Digital Photography – Digital Photography School

Timing – pick the right time of the day to do your waterfall photography and you can definitely give yourself more options to use longer shutter speeds. Around sunrise and sunset are obvious times as light is less bright. Also overcast days are …

5 Steps to Waterfall Photography (Guest Post) | eQuipping for eMinistry

This is the final post in a series on outdoor photography for Cru staff attending IBS and national staff training in Fort Collins, Colorado. Many staff will head to Rocky Mountain National Park on their free time, hoping to find great …

Mother/Daughter Trip, Camping Out

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During our Mother/Daughter college visit trip we camped out two of  three nights, once at Stockton Lake Missouri and the other at Greers Lake in Arkansas. Bought this tent a few years back on a whim, it was on sale, but this is the first time we actually used it away from home. As long as I have an air mattress I’m fine. Getting too old to sleep right on the ground, back isn’t in the same shape as it was when I was a teenager.

I do have to say, we put up a pretty good tent. First night took about 15 minutes, had to look at the instructions, but the second night only took about 5-10 minutes. It’s not a “pop-up” tent, inserting poles and a fly cover are involved. Just make sure the stakes are in tight to keep it from blowing away in a stiff wind.

Camping in a tent
Camping in a tent

The last night of our trip we stayed at Greers Ferry lake at Cove Creek Recreation Area, 45 minutes northeast of Conway Arkansas, in the heart of the Ozarks.

Cove Creek Recreation Area, Arkansas
Tent Area, Cove Creek Recreation Area, Arkansas

Our tent site was at the very end of this lane, right next to the lake. We had two neighbors in this whole area. The site manager showed us were to find free firewood and thankfully the “NO Burn Ban” had been lifted that morning so we could have a campfire.

The only inconvenience was having to drive to the bathrooms and showers. But both were modern and clean, which is a plus. Not that big of a deal, just have to plan your trips.

Swimming in the Ozarks
The Water was wonderful!
Cooking Brats over a campfire
Cooking Brats over a campfire

Everything tastes better over an open fire.  I asked my daughter, “Now, you don’t care if I cook these right on the grate do you?” (some people would insist on tin foil) “No, why would we do it any other way?”  That’s my girl, she understands that we just “sanitized” that grill with 1000F fire (ok, it was hot)

Campfire at night
Campfire by the lake

Yup, no better way to end an evening, curled up laying next to the fire right by the lake.

Related articles

Use of Fill Flash Outside

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I’ve read about using fill flash, but I had never tried using this photography technique until last week. Now I think it is the most valuable tool ever invented on the camera (just kidding) .  Many people totally believe in natural lighting, while I can respect that I also believe in using tools to improve results.

Use Fill Flash Outside

When my daughter and I took a trip to Missouri and Arkansas to tour a few colleges we decided to make it a camping trip. Two out of the three days we camped out in tents by the lake and it was wonderful  The scenery is so unlike the plains of Nebraska I was itching to capture and play with different settings on my camera. My daughter was a willing subject on this trip and I was bound and determined to make the most of the opportunity.

With so many trees around she was constantly in the shade. The first photo above was disappointing  as I had too much shadow on her face. Then the brainstorm. “Let’s try the flash? Stay right there and smile. ”  I popped it open, heck why not? I set the intensity on the menu as high as it would go as I was using the 75-300 lens from about 20 feet away.

What a difference! The extra lighting opened up the shadows, warmed the tone of the photo, and overall enhanced the image.

Photo was taken with a Canon Rebel XS so it’s far from a professional camera by far, but I got much better results straight out of camera which is the ultimate goal of any photographer. Time saved in post production is more time shooting.

Using a Flash Diffuser

Many times people avoid using a flash for the dreaded “flash burn” on the skin and highlights. Professional photographers control this in the studio by using soft boxes or flash diffusers which cover or screen the bright bulbs. The same thing can be accomplished with using a diffuser.

There are even flash intensifiers such as the Rogue flash booster. This is designed when long range lighting is needed beyond the 10-15 feet of a pop-up flash.

Pop-Up Universal Soft Screen Box External FlashRogue Safari DSLR Pop-Up Flash Booster (Black)Opteka PD-10 Universal Soft Screen Pop-Up Diffuserpangshi® Flash Bounce Reflector Card Diffuser ReflectiveMicnova Universal Soft Screen Flash Diffuser forProfessor Kobre’s Lightscoop, Warm Version Bounce Flash

 

How to use On Camera Fill Flash

Xpert Advice: How to Use Fill Flash for More Even Lighting

Before you shoot, turn on the flash and go into the menu of your camera (like the Fujifilm X100T) and select fill flash. Then you’ll need to fine tune it, so find the flash compensation menu. Turn the flash power down quite a bit; -2/3rds is a great …
Fill Flash In Wide Angle Macro Photography

Rather, I used a handheld flash set to sufficient power to bring the foreground caterpillars up to the same light levels as the sky. Fill flash is an effective technique. In the absence of a flash I could either expose for the sky, leaving the …
Fill Flash

We all know by now that natural light does not always work for every subject and one of those problems is the contrast that the sun can create on subjects that would be better off in soft light. Fortunately on-camera flash a great option for dealing …
How to Mix Ambient Light and Fill-Flash for Outdoor Portraits

If you would like to capture perfectly exposed images in ambient light, the real secret is to use fill-flash and a light modifier. Sure, if you have a reflector and an assistant you may be able to achieve similar results using only natural light.
Bit by Bit: A Digital Fill-Flash Technique for Improving Images

Many of the consumer and “prosumer” digital cameras have a built-in strobe flash that can be used for fill-flash — adding light to a brightly illuminated scene. But my Nikon D1X does not have a built-in flash, so I carry and use a separate strobe …
Using Fill Flash – Digital Photography School

In addition to helping with backlit subjects fill flash helps in more subtle ways also by helping to eliminate shadows cast by facial features (under eyes, noses, chins) or under hats – especially when light is shining down from above. It also might …
Eliminating Fill Flash Hard Shadows – A Controlled Test …

Defining the problem: While shooting a portrait outdoors, I usually add a fill flash to eliminate any “racoon eyes” and dark shadows on the face. The fill flash is set set at 1.7 stops under exposed for a light touch. My setup is a …