Niall O’Farrell – Photo Site

Posts Tagged ‘How to Photograph Waterfalls’

How to Photograph Waterfalls, when I look in the magazines I see stunning image of waterfall so I always wondered how to take a stunning photo of a waterfall. The tips here are from both experimenting with waterfall photography and for researching how other photographers managed to get take amazing waterfall images.

1. Shutter speed:
   •  Shutter speed is very important in waterfall photography. 
     • To get a motion effect on the water you need to use a slower shutter speed
     • To show individual waves and droplets in the water you need to use a fast shutter speed
   • By using a slow shutter speed you not only get a motion effect but you image will actually shows the path that the water travels,   the slope of the water and the arcs of the water as it splashes off a rock on the way down the falls.
   • Recommended setting for slow shutter speed is   ½ to 1 second or slower than 1/15 of a second.
   • Different shutter speed will give different effects so I recommend taking several photos at different speed so that you can decide which results work best for you.
2. ISO 
   • Low ISO is recommending for waterfall images, especially images where you are using a slow shutter speed.
   • Our recommendation is ISO 100
3. Filters
   • One of the big problems I have found when photographing waterfall is the position and strength of the sun. If the sun is shining to bright and you use a slow shutter speed you picture sill end up looking white a white cavies. So if you do not have the opportunity to return at a different time to take the photo, you can try using filter to compensate for the overexposure caused by the over bright sun.
   • The two filters that are recommended as a solution to this type of problem are a neutral density filter or a polarizing filter.
4. Tripod
   • When using  slow shutter speeds you need a tripod, because its extremely difficult to hold your camera steady the camera, a slight shake could destroy what was about to turn out as a great photo.
5. Timer or Remote
   • As we have already learned keeping the camera steady is key when using slow shutter speed.
   • To keep camera shake to the minimum when using a slow shutter speed I recommend using the camera timer or camera remote if you have one.
6. Position and Direction of your camera
   • Check the direction of the waterfalls and decide which direction would give the most dramatic image result
7. Time of Day
   • Most recommended time of day for photographing waterfall is the early morning or late afternoon. The best guide is to fist to determine the direction of the waterfall and the position of the sun. You dont want the sun to be too bright, but you also need to take things like rocks and other objects into account. If you are taking a picture of a waterfall going through rock, then by working out what time of the day the sun will be at the correct position to light up the rocks and give some life to the image.
8. Seasons
   1. The same water fall looks different in each season and each season will offer a new opportunity to photograph the waterfall with different colours
9. Takes lots of photos at various exposures.
   1. Not all images will turn out the way you want them, this is even true fro profesion photographers.
   2. So the more photoes you take the easire it is to get that winning image.