Oregon is home to some of the most astounding waterfalls in the country. In the spring, with good water flow, lush greenery and filtered, overcast light, they offer some great photography opportunities. While waterfalls can be found all around the state, there are a few regions that have many waterfalls in a relatively small area, making it possible to visit a bunch of them in one trip. The three areas that I find particularly visitor friendly are the Columbia River Gorge Wilderness, Silver Creek State Park and the upper North Umpqua River. There are many excellent websites where you can get visitor information and directions to Oregon Waterfalls. Here are a few I like:
In mid April, my dad and I took a three-day trip to photograph some waterfalls. The first day we visited falls and lush creeks along the North Umpqua River. The second day we spent exploring and photographing the falls of Silver Creek State Park and on the third day we visited only a few of the many falls in the Columbia Gorge.
Photographing waterfalls and rainforest streams can be challenging. The dense forest setting can create a situation of “too much going on” and make it difficult to get unobstructed views and find coherent compositions. Additionally, on a sunny day there is too much contrast between the bright and shadowed areas of the forest making it nearly impossible to balance the light and show detail in all areas of an image. Here are some tips that I have found helpful when photographing waterfalls and dense forest streams.
- Shoot when the light is soft and balanced. This includes overcast days, mornings, evenings, and canyons deep in shadow.
- Light rain or mist is your friend. Wet foliage really pops and light fog can add a very mystical dimension to photos.
- Use a circular polarizer to cut out light scattered off the surface of shiny green plants and the surface of water. The difference this makes is amazing.
- Shoot on a tripod. Since the best conditions for shooting are lower light conditions, your shutter speeds will necessarily be longer than you can hold steady. Add in a small aperture setting for increased depth of field and a polarizing filter and you could be looking at shutter speeds longer than one second.
- For the best “smooth water” effects try for a shutter speed between .5 and 1.5 seconds. If your exposure is too long then the water loses all its texture.
- If shooting digitally, shoot two exposures, one for the water and one for the foliage. When the foliage is properly exposed, the white, foamy areas of water will often be blown out and lacking detail. Shooting two exposures allows you to blend them later in Photoshop to achieve the correct exposure throughout. For my article on how to do this kind of exposure blending click HERE.
- Look for interesting vantage points. Try angles down close to the water, up on a rock or a rise, across a ravine or from the side.
- Don’t simply shoot the waterfall or stream centered in the middle of the image. Place the waterfall off center and show some of the surroundings to give a sense of place. Look for ways to have curves in the stream lead your eye through the image at an angle. Try to cut out paths, bridges and other signs of people unless you are going for a “humans in nature” shot.
- Tread carefully and preserve the beauty. Stay on trails in sensitive areas. Don’t step on delicate plant life. Avoid muddy and eroding areas. Avoid entering off trail areas that are clearly getting too much use.
