Capture one

Waterfalls are one of the natures beautiful wonders that as a Landscape Photographer you’d enjoy capturing. However there are waterfall photos and then there are beautiful waterfall photos.

In this post I will give you 7 tips that will guarantee that you are capturing beautiful waterfall photos. So what makes a beautiful waterfall image:

  • Lots of water flowing through
  • Silky smooth white blanket of water
  • Big rocks and cliffs
  • Lots of foliage and greenery

Tripod

 

Tripods are a must when it comes to taking good waterfall images. It helps you stablise the shot as well as get that silky smooth look.

Consider the below example you can see that one is mediocre image and other more beautiful even though both were taken at the same location.

The one the left has just been taken without a Tripod while the one on the right has been taken with a Tripod.

Zoom Lens

 

Although for Landscape Photography we prefer to use a wide angle lens but you also want to have some zoom capabilities. If you are limited by access to the waterfall, you’d want to use a zoom lens that can get you close to the waterfall.

Having the tripod also will help you stablise the shot and get a sharp image.

Shutter Priority Mode

 

You want to shoot in Shutter Priority which let’s you control how much time the shutter is open till.

You want to capture the images at 1/2 second or longer up to 2 seconds. This will allow you to get that silky smooth look which we all love to see in waterfall images.

Adjust your ISO depending upon the light you are having so that the shutter is not open for too long. Otherwise the silky smooth water starts to become clear and you don’t get that white blanket you see in the image.

If you are comfortable, then you can also venture into the Manual Mode of your camera and control all the exposure settings.

Cable Release/Remote

 

In effort to further stablise and take a sharp image in addition to the Tripod you want to invest in a remote cable release or remote trigger. This will help prevent any camera shake when you press the shutter button.

If you don’t have a cable release or forget to carry one with you, you can also use the 2 or 10 second timer. Refer to your camera’s manual if you are unsure on how to do this.

ND Filter

 

An ND Filter is a filter that you can attach to your lens and it will reduce the amount of light entering the camera. Therefore helping you to slow the shutter down to 1/2 second or 2 second to create that silky smooth water flowing.

Rainfall

Visit the waterfalls after it rains. This will ensure there is plenty of water flowing through the falls and you can get some beautiful shots.

Overcast day

And finally you want to leverage the days when its cloudy and overcast. This will give you very nice diffused light when you visit the waterfalls.

It will evenly light up the location and you will get deeper and richer colours without any risk of over exposing parts of the image.

So I hope that with these simple tips I have inspired you to plan you next outing and go out and capture beautiful waterfalls of your own.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and even see some pictures you’ve created. Leave a comment below or share a link your photo.

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