Today was a vacation day for me.  It had been several years since my last jaunt to Silver Falls State Park.  It was time for a revisit.  The venue is located about an hour and a half southeast of Portland.  One of the largest parks in Oregon, Silver Falls State Park is home to ten gorgeous waterfalls.  Fall and spring are probably the best times to visit, as summer can attract a lot of foot traffic.

The day was overcast with light drizzle, perfect for waterfall and forest photography.  I left home at 6 am, grabbed a quick bite at McDonalds, and was at the park by 10:30.  I left my car at the North Fall parking area and did a relatively easy 3 1/2 mile loop that took me to Upper North Fall, North Fall, and Winter Fall.  I came across very few people and took my time enjoying the hike and views.  I don’t think I captured anything spectacular, but today was more about the journey and hike.  I stopped over in Portland and had dinner before heading back to Seattle.  By 8 PM I was downloading and post-processing the images from the day.

Here are a few tips and personal preferences for waterfall photography:

• I love overcast days for waterfalls, as the light is diffused, with no harsh shadows or overly bright sunlit areas.
• If at all possible, I try to not include a lot of sky in my images, as gray skies are dull, uninteresting, and often show up as bright, overexposed areas in my pictures.
• My favorite shutter speed for waterfalls is between 1/4 and 3/4 second.  Any slower, the water looks too much like shaving cream for my taste.  Any faster than 1/4 second, and the water isn’t blurry enough.  This is all personal preference, of course.
• I like to use a polarizer when shooting waterfalls, because it significantly reduce glare from things such as water surface and wet leaves.
• Because you’re working with such slow shutter speeds, a tripod is a must.  Don’t be lazy; carry a tripod.  I also recommend using a cable release and enabling mirror lock-up if your camera has the feature.
• Proper exposure can be tricky, as waterfalls are very white while the surround foliage, rocks, etc. are much darker.  I always exposure bracket my shots about 1 to 1 1/2 stops on either side of 0.  I then combine the exposures later in post-processing to get the perfect balance between highlight and shadow detail.  In the near future, I’ll write a tutorial describing how I do this.
• I often find myself getting very close to waterfalls, and keeping my equipment (especially the front of the lens) free of water droplets is a real challenge.  I carry a small lens cloth which I use to wipe down the front of the lens (or polarizing filter if you have it on) between exposures.  The trick is to have everything set up (eg, composition, f-stop/shutter speed/ISO values) first.  Then wipe down the lens and snap the image (or bracketed images).  A lens hood helps, as does a portable umbrella.

Here are a few shots from today’s trip.

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 14-45 f/3.5-5.6 lens, 26mm (52mm equivalent), f/18, (2/3 and 1 1/3 sec exposures), ISO 100

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 14-45 f/3.5-5.6 lens, 23mm (46mm equivalent) f/8, 8 sec, ISO 100

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200 f/4.5-5.6 lens, 132mm (264mm equivalent), f/8, 1/13 sec, ISO 100

I was on call yesterday (Sunday) and it just so happened to be the first day of Daylight Saving.  I woke up extra early and looked out my bedroom window.  Noticing the nice quality of the developing light, I packed my gear and headed back to the University of Washington’s main campus.  I arrived just after sunrise and pretty much had the place all to myself.  The colors were excellent, and I snapped away happily.  By 45 minutes, I was satisfied with what I captured and headed to Children’s Hospital, refreshed and “eager” to start call.  That last part is probably stretching it a bit.

Anywho, here are a couple of shots from the outing.  If you look carefully at the first image, you can see the Space Needle in the distance.  I really love the pink hues on the blossoms.  I hope you do also.  Let me know what you think.

Panasonic GF-1, 14-45 f/3.5-5.6, 20mm (40mm equivalent), f/8, ISO 100, (1/15, 1/30, 1/60 second exposures)

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 45-200 f/4.5-5.6, 45mm (90mm equivalent), f/8, ISO 100, (1/8, 1/4, 1/2 second exposures)

We had a little break in the weather this afternoon, so I decided to visit the Quad at UW main campus to photograph the cherry blossoms. If you’re thinking of visiting, the blossoms are at full bloom now. Tomorrow calls for an overcast day, which I think is perfect for photographing the blossoms. There won’t be any contrasty light to play havoc with your exposures. The gray skies will look dull, so I’d try to keep as much of it as possible out of my frame. Even if  there isn’t a lot of light, I would still utilized a polarizer. It helps to minimize glare from the surface of the pathways, blossoms and benches.

The blossoms this year are more white than pink, but still unbelievably beautiful! They have not bloomed everywhere on campus yet but are spectacular at the quad.

I had my little Panasonic GF-1 camera and the kit 14-45 lens with me. I’m amazed at the quality I’m getting out of that combo. I took 3 bracketed exposures, then combined them in Photoshop to get the “perfect” exposure. I played around with Channel Mixer to get the b&w tones looking a little contrasty.

Below is an image I made this afternoon, along with a Google Map of where I was standing when I took the shot. (The green arrow points to my exact spot.) I hope you enjoy the image.

Panasonic GF-1, Panasonic 14-45 f/3.5-5.6 lens, 25mm (50mm equivalent), f/8, (1/5, 1/8, 1/13 seconds), ISO 100

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