Photographing Waterfalls - Cary Photographic Artists

Photographing Waterfalls
Developed and presented by
Harry O’Connor
oconnorhj@yahoo.com
May 3, 2010
All photos by Harry O’Connor
Introduction
• Waterfall photographs are landscapes
• Typical landscape considerations apply:
– Foreground interest
– Leading / diagonal lines
– Rule of thirds
– Geometric shapes
– Framing elements
• Special considerations apply
– Flowing water
– others
Connestee Falls
Near Brevard, NC
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Special considerations
• Flowing water
– How much blur
• Icicle look to fog look
• Exposure
– Right for the water vs. right for the rocks, etc.
– Right for the water vs. right for the sky
• Terrain
– Valley with shadows
– Open overhead leads to bright spots
– Limited views
More often too much
light than too little
light
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Waterfalls are where you find them…
Sometimes volume and beauty are not synonymous
Looking Glass Falls
Pisgah Nat’l Forest, NC
Unnamed flow
New River Gorge, WV
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Although you don’t find many around the triangle
Map from: http://www.northcarolinawaterfalls.info/map.html#
Top resource:
North Carolina Waterfalls, A Hiking And Photography Guide By Kevin Adams
590 pages, 13 color & numerous B&W photos
Published by John F. Blair, Publisher, 2005
Price: $19.95
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Caution!
• Waterfall photography can be dangerous
–
–
–
–
–
–
Steep drops
Slippery rocks
Falling / loose rocks
Unexpected flows
Snakes, bears, other critters
Poison ivy, poison oak, thorns
International caution symbol from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caution_sign_used_on_roads_pn.svg
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Agenda
• Equipment needed or useful
• Basics of exposure
• Applying the basics of exposure to waterfall
photography
• Some photos to discuss / evaluate
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Necessary / useful equipment
Cable release
Camera with adjustable
aperture / shutter / ISO
settings and filter screw-in
thread
Lens:
wide to moderate in most
situations;
sometimes a telephoto gets
the good shot
Tripod
Circular polarizer
Raingear
Neutral density filter
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Straight JPEG files
• All photos in the next section are full frame,
straight from the camera card jpeg files with
no modifications unless otherwise explicitly
stated.
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A polarizer reduces light and reflections
It is useful to differentiate blue sky / white clouds
Put it on and rotate front glass and effect is visible
Without polarizer
120426_1516_90
200
1/1600 sec
F9
With Polarizer
120426_1516_91
200
1/320 sec
F9
Note: BOTH these images had a slight levels adjustment to alleviate a somewhat muddy cast.
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A polarizer reduces light and reflections
It is useful to reduce reflections in water, glass etc. (non metallic)
Without polarizer
120420_1242_71
320
1/125 sec
F8.0
With Polarizer
120420_1243_72
800
1/100 sec
F8.0
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A polarizer reduces light and reflections
It sometimes reduces unseen reflections to enhance apparent saturation
Without polarizer
120315_1314_36
200
1/320 sec
F4.5
With Polarizer
120315_1314_37
200
1/80 sec
F4.5
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A neutral density filter just blocks light
• When there is too much light for the desired
aperture / shutter combination, ND will block
light and allow the desired setting
• ND filters come in “whole stop” increments
ND name
Optical density
# stops
ND2
0.3
1
ND4
0.6
2
ND8
0.9
3
ND16
1.2
4
ND32
1.5
5
ND64
1.8
6
Most useful, if you only buy one
NOTE: For this discussion we are
referring to round, screw-in ND
filters. You can also get square
partially clear / partially ND filters
that can be placed in front of a lens
to affect only part of a frame.
Table derived from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_density_filter
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Basic
Exposure
EXPOSURE
TRIANGLE
100
less
200
400
800
1600
3200
SENSOR SENSITIVITY (ISO)
Noise
Many versions of this graphic exist. Search “Exposure Triangle” for hundreds of hits.
6400
more
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The “perfect” exposure is a full bucket of water
ISO is
sensitivity of the sensor…
the amount of water (light)
required to fill the bucket
Low ISO takes more light
to fill the bucket
High ISO takes less
light to fill the bucket
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The “perfect” exposure is a full bucket of water
Aperture is the opening in the hose
Shutter speed is the time to let the water flow
A coordinated hose size and flow time lead to a full bucket
The gardener takes longer to fill the bucket with the small hose
than the fireman takes with the large hose
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How your camera sets exposure (Auto)
It reads the light and calculates the best
compromise of the three variables:
Shutter
ISO
100
200
400
800
1600
3200
6400
4
2
1
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
1/500
1/1000
Probably biased toward a low ISO like 200
Probably biased toward a “hand hold-able” shutter like 1/125 or above
Probably biased toward a mid aperture of f8 to f16
But other equal combinations exist (see
Aperture
f64
f45
f32
f22
f16
f11
f8
f5.6
f4
f2.8
f2
f1.4
)
Note: Each camera maker and camera model has its own algorithm for exposure.
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How to set and use your camera at waterfalls*
1. Auto ISO off; set as low as you can, 100 or 200
2. Mode to Shutter priority; “S” on most cameras, “Tv” on Canons
3. Set shutter to slow speed; ¼ or ½ second a good starting point
Steps 1 2 & 3 result in the camera choosing the best aperture
for calculated correct exposure
4. Mount on Tripod, attach cable release, screw in polarizer filter
5. Frame shot
6. Rotate polarizer to darkest setting or near darkest setting
7. Depress shutter part way and review shutter / aperture values
 If aperture value is high and blinks**, the scene requires a
smaller physical aperture than your lens has; choice is to
use ND filter or faster shutter speed
8. Take a test exposure and review as indicated on the next slide
* Harry’s opinion based on experience and research
** Your camera might have a different indication
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Review your histogram and look for “blinkies”
Under exposed --Slower shutter or
Wider aperture or
Higher ISO
Good overall exposure
No blown highlights,
Minimal blocked
shadows
Over exposed --Faster shutter or
Narrower aperture or
Lower ISO or
ND filter
Most cameras display blown highlight / blocked
shadow indications with blinking warnings. Here,
Blue indicates pure black,
Red indicates pure white
Generally, you want to avoid pure white in the water
and sky by adjusting for less exposure.
Histograms and blinkies simulated in Photoshop but are similar to
what is available in many cameras
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Have Fun!
• Bracket
– Auto if you want to bracket every shot, or dial in exposure
compensation for some shots
• Move around
– Get close to or in the water
• Try slower / faster shutter speeds
• Get the “big picture”
• Look for interesting details
Next we’ll look at some samples of photos
shot with different settings
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I went to Umstead Park to take some photos of a
waterfall there to illustrate this presentation
• The day was overcast
but bright. Note the
absence of bright sun or
dark shadows.
• You don’t see a
waterfall?
• Look closer
The upcoming series of photos was
taken with the camera set with ISO
fixed at 100 and Mode at Shutter
Priority. Then I manually decremented
the shutter speed.
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No filter
120420_1214_24
100
1/30 sec
F5.0
22
No filter
120420_1214_26
100
1/8 sec
F13.0
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No filter
120420_1215_28
100
5/10 sec
F20.0
24
No filter
120420_1215_29
100
10/10 sec
F25.0
25
Polarizer
120420_1221_35
100
1/15 sec
F5.0
26
Polarizer
120420_1222_39
100
10/10 sec
F25.0
27
Polarizer
120420_1222_40
100
20/10 sec
F32.0
28
4ND
120420_1227_50
100
20/10 sec
F32.0
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Shoot RAW!
• The photos used to illustrate the shutter and
filter points were JPEG to avoid issues of
manipulation, but in real situations there is
often detail available in RAW exposures in
both the shadow and highlight areas that has
been compressed out of the JPEG exposures.
• Use the recovery and fill light sliders to bring
out detail, as well as the exposure slider to
fine tune the overall image.
All photos from this point forward are from raw images processed in Photoshop.
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Hidden Falls
Hanging Rock State
Park, North of
Winston-Salem
> 14 foot drop
060617_1018_57
100
2
f32
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Bald River Falls
Tellico Plains, TN
Just off Cherhola
Skyway
> 100 foot drop
070720_1029_34
3 exposure HDR
400
1/4, ½, 1
f22
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Blackwater Falls
Blackwater Falls
State Park, WV
Northeast corner of
WV
> 60 foot drop
090624_2209_95
800
1/50
f18
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Middle Falls
Near Brevard NC
> 6 foot drop
111029_1035_79
800
1/4
f14
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Thanks for listening
• Many hints and tips available by searching for
“Landscape Composition” or “Waterfall
Photography”
• Many locations (including free map and
brochure offers) by searching “NC Waterfalls”
• If you need a copy of this presentation, or
have any questions, send me a note at:
oconnorhj@yahoo.com
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