Waterfall Photography: Tips to Make a Stunning Images

Waterfalls provide their own unique set of problems, which requires a unique set of solutions. As beautiful as waterfalls are, it is not so easy to capture that beauty with a camera. It is easy to produce pictures of waterfalls; it is not so easy to produce powerful images.

The following waterfall photography tips will help you snap stunning images, and master the technical and creative sides of photographing this fascinating subject.

1. Shoot at the Right Time of Day

Bright sunlight can easily ruin a waterfall photograph. The intense light casts strong shadows across the scene, making it difficult to get your exposure right. It also causes hundreds of reflections in the water and wet scenery, which will show up as tiny white dots in your shot.

To avoid these problems, shoot around sunrise or sunset (the so-called “golden hour”), when the sun’s light is less intense and more diffuse. These times of day make it easier to get a more even exposure, and the reduced light means you can use a slow shutter speed more readily. Overcast days produce excellent lighting conditions for the same reasons.

Photo by Wolfman

2. Camera & Lenses

To produce above-average quality pictures it is very essential to use a camera with manual aperture and adjustable shutter-speed. Although some still use film or slide-based cameras, digital cameras have become the equipment of choice for most professional photographers who wish to capture water in motion.

The added weight and size of the larger-format cameras makes backpacking more of a challenge. Point-and-shoot cameras are inexpensive, reliable pieces of equipment, but do not allow much manual control. Digital single-lens reflex-type cameras (DSLR’s), on the other hand, allow you the flexibility you will need to change shutter speed, aperture, and lenses. For all these reasons, we suggest purchasing and carrying a DSLR-type camera on all waterfall expeditions for those seeking outstanding photographs.

3. ISO

Set your ISO as low as it will go (typically around ISO 100 or so). This reduces your camera’s sensitivity, allowing you to use slower shutter speeds without overexposing the scene. It also has the added benefit of reducing the amount of digital noise in your photos.

4. Tripod

Don’t even think of photographing a waterfall without a tripod. A large part of the nature of waterfalls is the movement of the water. With such a low shutter speed you won’t be able to hand-hold your camera. A sturdy tripod is an essential accessory here.

5. Exposure

Getting the right exposure can sometimes be a challenge when photographing waterfalls. Probably, one of the biggest problems is that it is easy to clip the highlights in the water. What this means is that the detail in the water is lost, and the water becomes just a big area of pure white. When this happens, the water just doesn’t look very real. The solution for this problem is to take a test shot of the waterfall and check the histogram on the monitor of your digital camera. If the histogram is cut off on the right side, the highlights have been clipped. If this is the case, the exposure needs to be decreased.

Photo by Ævar Guðmundsson

6. Shutter Speed

Every waterfall is different, and there’s no single “correct” shutter speed to use, but if you want to capture movement in the water you’ll need to use a slow shutter speed – generally somewhere from 0.3 seconds up to several seconds.

A good rule of thumb is to start with a speed of 1 second and take a test shot. Review it on your camera’s LCD screen and adjust until you get the correct level of blurring. Don’t worry if the scene is overexposed; we’ll adjust other settings to compensate for that.

Photo by Evangelio Gonzalez

7. Composition and Foreground

Identifying and capturing strong composition is an extremely important part of creating powerful waterfall images. While the purpose of this article is not to carry out a thorough review of composition, a couple of aspects of composition, curves and environment, will be covered.

Finding foreground objects becomes necessary with waterfalls that have abnormally large pools at their base. Take the time to observe the entire landscape around the falls, searching for anything else that can help fill your camera’s frame. This will enhance the quality of your pictures and more accurately reflect the actual size of the waterfall.