Waterfall photography especially has technical obstacles that always present themselves. In direct contradiction to other landscape photography you may often welcome the harsh midday sun that may filter it’s way down through the tree canopy and illuminate the falls. Access to the down stream section of a particular falls may be quite hazardous as the steep canyon walls may prevent the ideal vantage point. Particularly high falls often prevent photographing their full length even with the widest of lenses.
It may be possible to explore the technique of a vertical panorama. Exposure problems are another issue as you may be dealing with many stops of light that the camera cannot deal with. I often revert to HDR to deal with this issue.
Admittedly not all the waterfalls you see here are worthy of a frame and I will admit that looking at endless shots of waterfalls can be quite uninspiring; however I hope you will judge each photograph as a separate canvas and realize that I have photographed many falls for documentary reasons.
You may be wondering how to find obscure waterfalls and maybe wish to find a comprehensive list of Northwest waterfalls. Well I have to give credit to Bryan Swan who authored the Northwest Waterfall Survey
A very beautiful falls that is only .4 mile hike from the historic highway near Multnomah Falls. Hardly an original composition here as thousands of photographers have preceded me; however it works for me. The line really draws the viewer’s eye through the scene.
A very familiar composition of Ponytail Falls that just works.
If you continue to hike approximatley 1.3 miles beyond Ponytail Falls you will come to these unique falls.
This is one of three waterfalls you can bag at the Starvation Creek Rest Area located just west of Hood River Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge. The other two falls, which I will document, here are: Cabin Creek Falls and Hole-In-The-Wall Falls. These falls are the most inspiring of the three. The many stops of light here proved too much for the cameras meter and I had to rely on HDR software. Actually this is only one shot and was tone mapped after processing as an LDR image. HDR works best with bracketing three or more static images. In order to preserve the waters look and feel only one image was used here.
Accessed from the Starvation Creek Rest Area.
The last of the three falls you can photograph at the Starvation Creek rest area. This is also the trail that will take you to the summit of Mt. Defiance and Warren Lake. A trip I did in the mid 1980's.
I find that Elowah Falls are somewhat difficult to photograph from the down stream below the falls. The banks are very steep and vantage points are limited. The spray from the falls prohibits getting up close and personal as well. On this day I walked away without a shot and then discovered this one and only vantage point of the falls from above. This viewpoint is on the trail to Upper McCord Creek Falls and is really the only view you can safely photograph. Someone with ropes and rappelling gear could really get an outstanding shot if they were so inclined.
A late September offering of Elowah, the extremely low flow allowed me to finally hike up the right flank and get a shot of the entire drop.
I found these falls quite photogenic although capturing the many stops of light proved quite challenging, as is the case with most waterfall photography. I decided to use a burned in edge effect on this shot to emphasize the natural frame of foliage and to draw in the viewer’s eye.
Fairy Falls can be found 950 vertical feet above Wahkeena Falls just west of Multnomah Falls on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The trail is paved for the first ½ mile or so and the hike is considered moderate only because of the steepness.
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