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
Only 1 mile from the trailhead will reward you with this magnificent view. These falls and the surrounding valley with immense boulders are almost surreal and is very hard to do the scene justice as proper light never really filters its way through the tree canopy. The parking area is adjacent to Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River Gorge.
You are looking at Metlako Falls in the Columbia Gorge approximatly 1/2 mile before you reach famous Punchbowl Falls on the Eagle Creek Trail. This is really the only good vantage point for photographing these falls Im using 68mm of my 200mm lens tripod mounted.
This is a merging of two photos. The sun was so bright on the lower ferns they were blown out. I used a 3 stop split nd Cokin filter and turned it upside down then took another shot with the filter fliped 180. At home I simply merged the two in seperate layers, I then erased the blown out areas to reveal the properly exposed photo you see here.
Punch Bowl falls as seen from the lower Punchbowl trail annex. *Note* the fallen timber that gives the viewer an indication of date as older versions of these falls were photographed pre- obstruction. Photo taken June 2008. Update for 2009 the log has been cleared by mother natures winter furry.
Another take on the famous and highly photographed Punch Bowl Falls. I can tell you that is some ice cold water as I stood composing this shot in mid June. Other problems included almost falling as I slipped on river rocks and keeping my carbon fiber tripod anchored down, it's just to buoyant.
A must see tourist attraction for any visitor. Falling 611ft it is the second highest year round waterfall in the U.S. Only 30 minutes east of Portland Oregon on Interstate 84. Learn more here.
A very short hike just west of Multnomah Falls will
reward you with this view
(Pentax K10d 16-45mm @16mm Cokin nd filter Manfrotto tripod)
Tamanawas Falls are stunning in person and can be reached from the east side of Mt. Hood via Hood River hwy #35 or over Hwy #26 taking the Mt Hood Meadows turn off and just north of the Sherwood Campground you will find an unmarked gravel turnout on the west side where the hike begins. Only 4 miles round trip I highly recommend this hike for everyone in the family. This hike makes an excellent snow-shoe adventure in the winter as well.
Another perspective
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