Making a Splash

Dear Bubbles,
Do you have any tips for photographing waterfalls?

Sincerely,
Drenched but Determined

Dear Drenched but Determined:
The R&B music group TLC might have sung“don’t go chasing waterfalls.” But I say grab your camera, and go! Get out there and find yourself some waterfalls to explore!

Why? Because waterfalls are pure magic! Besides being amazing bubble-makers, they typically make a splash in remarkably beautiful places like misty forests, majestic canyons, and gorge-ous gorges. Whether the cascades are two-feet or two-hundred-feet tall, they are constantly flowing, plunging, splashing, tumbling, and bubbling (!!!) which means no two moments—or photographic frames—are ever the same as you are standing in front of them. Waterfalls remind us that life—and our creativity—keeps moving, flowing, and reshaping our terrain.

Waterfalls can offer everything from drama to peace, so you’d best be prepared for anything and everything as a photographer. So let’s dive in! Here are tips for photographing waterfalls:

Safety first: Revere the power of water. A pool or stream may look calm and inviting, but currents and undertows can be stronger than you think. Plus, the rocks and terrain around the falls can be wet, muddy, slick, and slimy. Move slowly and deliberately, wear shoes with good tread, and use hiking sticks or your tripod to steady yourself. Cliff edges and fenced-off spots aren’t the time to show off your inner mountain goat—they provide boundaries for smart safety reasons. Mind them so you and your camera stay alive. If you’re photographing in canyon country during monsoon season, keep an eye on the weather forecast and sky. Rain in the distance can cause flash floods which can turn a little trickle into a raging torrent in seconds. In short, chase waterfalls, but do it wisely: no image is worth risking your well-being.

Gear up: There are so, so many ways to photograph a waterfall. When it comes to equipment, bring. It. All.  Give yourself options. A variety of lenses from wide-angle to telephoto can provide a multitude of perspectives, from showcasing the length of a tall cataract to isolating smaller textures in a section of the falls. Adding a polarizer to your lens can reduce the reflective light off surrounding rocks and foliage which increases the apparent saturation in your frame. As an added bonus if you’re looking to render smoother water, a polarizer will slow your shutter speed down one to two stops of light. A neutral density filter can slow your shutter speed even more so—from one to twenty stops of light depending on the kind of filter you use. I used to use a variable neutral density that offered the flexibility to slow my frames down two to eight stops of light, but I acquired a camera, an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark III, last autumn that has neutral density capabilities built into it. (Thanks so much, Sue!! Love it!) To keep your photographs sharp during slower shutter speeds, a tripod and cable release (or wireless remote) become necessary tools for stabilization.

Get your wet look on: Although no human has ever melted from a little water, prevent discomfort (and hypothermia especially around colder, wetter waterways) by keeping yourself dry, warm, and cozy by wearing waterproof rain gear from head-to-toe: a rain jacket, rain pants, neoprene socks, and shoes you aren’t afraid to get wet or muddy. Splash gear used in kayaking and/or waders used in fishing work just as well. Bring rain gear for your camera too. While a temporary (and cheap) measures like a plastic baggie, trash bag, shower cap, and cheap camera rain sleeves (like Op/Tech) can keep your camera dry in a little spray, more robust rain covers can protect your gear from heavier, constant misty environments.

Manage mist-erious encounters: Like llamas, waterfalls will spit on you and your camera. Constantly. Unlike llamas, the waterfall is not trying to be rude; it’s just being its authentic self (as we should all strive for, including llamas). But spray can ruin your photo if you’re not watchful. While processing tools like the Remove tool in Adobe Photoshop can help you remove water spots at home, check your lens often in the field for spray (and save yourself the extra processing steps). Carry several lens cloths, microfiber cloths, and perhaps even a towel or two or three to keep your gear and hands dry. I like to compose with a shower cap over my lens, then lift it up quickly during my exposure, then replace it over the lens until I’m ready to make another frame. This keeps my lens spray-free but my vision through the lens clear. Sometimes moving a couple feet to the left or right can cut down on the spritzing dramatically.

Approach with mindfulness: Upon arriving at your chosen waterfall, take a minute or two or twenty to just soak the magnificence and splendor of nature in. Take a deep breath and start connecting with your surroundings in the only way you can. Fill your brain with knowledge and ideas (step 1, Preparation, in Wallas’ model of creativity. For more about the creative process, visit my earlier Dear Bubbles column “Keeping it Fresh” at https://dearbubbles.com/2020/02/keeping-it-fresh/). Take inventory of what Mother Nature has dealt to you in this moment. Get a sense of what’s happening in the scene and how you are responding to it. How fast is the water moving, and in which direction? What shapes does the water create? What patterns and structure exist? What’s catching your eye? How are you feeling about what you’re experiencing? What else is it? If we have any hope of expressing our connections with our subjects, waterfalls or otherwise, we must make those connections personally with our landscapes first.

Picture your picture before you make a picture (i.e., visualization, or step 2, Incubation, in Wallas’ model of creativity: For waterfalls, it’s critical you decide before you snap a frame whether you wish to freeze or blur the water. To aid in your decision-making process, describe what you are experiencing in words. Pay attention to yourself and the words you use! Words have connotations that translate into photographic techniques. For example, if you describe the scene with words like splashy, power, and mighty, freezing the water is likely the best direction to support your visual message. Things like employing a fast shutter speed, vertical orientation, and off-centered placement can help communicate that meaning visually. However, if you use words like dreamy, ethereal, and silky, a slower shutter speed, horizontal orientation, and centered placement would help you express that effectively. Decisions, decisions!

Dial-in the movement and mood: Like humans, water has character and personality. Waterfalls can be loud, tumultuous commotions or quiescent trickles or anything in between. And, depending on how you’re connecting with the moment, you have the option to present a waterfall in different moods: as dreamy ribbons, cotton-y flows, or frothy feisty-ness (hey, if Shakespeare can make up words, so can I…). Photographers control the look of moving water by adjusting the shutter speed. If you want frozen water, use a fast shutter speed. What’s fast? It depends on the water’s movement. Start with a 1/500^th of a second and determine if the spray and flow retain enough structure. The faster the shutter speed, the more likely you are to freeze its motion. (You might need to speed up your ISO and/or use a wider aperture to accomplish faster shutter speeds.) On the other hand, if you want slow or blurred water, use a slow shutter speed. What’s slow? Again, it depends. I like to start with 1/8^th of a second and adjust faster or slower depending on what’s happening with the water’s movement and my mood. The longer the shutter speed, the smoother the water. (You might need to slow your ISO or use a smaller aperture to accomplish slower—shutter speeds.)

Call in the filters: Sometimes the light is just too abundant and bright to render your desired speeds. A polarizer and/or neutral density filters can help. Both will reduce the amount of light hitting your sensor and slow your shutter speeds (which will make the water look slower in your frame). However, if your shutter speed is too slow, you could risk getting the dreaded—cue dramatic music—white blob of nothingness in your photograph. It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s literally a blank patch in your photograph with no details or structure. It’s just pure white. If the eye goes to the brightest part of the frame, that’s where your viewer is going to start looking at your photo. And then get bored with a blank white patch. And then move on with their life. To ensure your water retains a combination of movement with contrast, texture, details, and structure, use a faster shutter speed. OR!  Slow your shutter speed even more so (like 60 seconds or slower) to render a foggy look which can retain the detail and structure, albeit in a completely different way.

Cheat the blur: Can’t get slow enough? No filters? No worries! Try stacking multiple exposures in processing software to fake the blurred water look. To do this, set your shutter speed to as slow as possible. Make 10-20 frames using continuous drive mode (or use the multiple exposure function in your camera, if available). In processing software, open all images as layers in Adobe Photoshop. (Via Bridge, go to Tools/Photoshop/Load Files into Photoshop Layers. Via Lightroom, go to Photo/Edit in/Open as Layers in Photoshop in the Develop module). Once in Photoshop, align the frames by selecting all layers then choosing Edit/Auto-Align Layers (use Auto) from the top menu. Then change the Blend mode—try Lighten or Overlay to start and adjust the opacity to 5-30%. Voila! The appearance of blurred water! Merge visible layers and process as you normally would.

Leverage the light: I prefer photographing waterfalls in even illumination. Arriving when the waterfall is in shade or under cloudy, overcast skies will help bring out excellent color saturation and offer more flexibility with your shutter speeds. That’s not to say direct and brighter light can’t work (case in point, the photo at the top of this post from Hug Point, made with ISO 100, f/22 at 1/6 second). Higher contrast can yield dramatic images. No matter the type of light, manage how you direct the viewer within your frame knowing that the viewer’s eye goes to the brightest part of the frame.

Compose as usual: Approaching composition with waterfalls is like any other subject. We aim to arrange the visual elements to create meaning and depth. For example, a vertical orientation will accentuate the height and increase the visual tension. A horizontal orientation will convey a sense of space and peace. Visual elements in the foreground can give the waterfall a sense of scale and dimension (whether the visual elements are small or big). A centered waterfall can create symmetrical balance which expresses harmony and stability. An off-centered waterfall will express asymmetrical balance and with it, a sense of increased visual energy. Lines will direct the viewers into and around your frame. Change your perspective to create different relationships between lines and shapes, and thus a sense of depth and meaning. Tell your story of the waterfall by exploring a variety of angles and lenses. To do so, it goes back to how are you responding to the scene? How can the arrangement of the visual elements help you convey that response effectively? How many unique ways can you share your connection with the water?

Like Loren Eiseley said, “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” So chase those waterfalls (yes, TLC, we’re doing it anyway). Keep splashing joy into the world through your photographs of cascades big and small.

And when you get home, dry off and treat yourself to pie—you will have certainly earned it for your efforts!

Be well, be brave, be safe, and be wild,
~Bubbles

Have a question about photography, art, and/or the creative life? Need some advice? Looking for inspiration? Send your question to Dear Bubbles at colleen@colleenminiuk.com to be possibly featured in a future column post. (If you’d prefer a different display name than your real first name, please include your preferred nickname in your note.