Waterfall is a great subject of photography. Because waterfall is usually in remote area or on the top of mountain, chance that you already spend a lot of your energy and time to get there. Therefore, try your best to capture it
1. Use slow shutter speed
If your camera has manual mode, try to get the slow shutter speed (1/4 second or slower). The slower the shutter speed, the smoother the waterfall. If you are shooting in a very bright day light, you will need to balance the slow shutter speed by setting a small aperture, for example f/16-f/22. Set ISO to 100 or 200 (some Nikon cameras has base ISO of 200).
2. Use filter : polarizer and ND
Polarizer filter will eliminate strong highlight reflection on the rocks and. It is great because if the rock is too bright, it will compete with waterfall for attention. In addition, Polarizer filter limits the light entering the lens about two stops, so you can use slower shutter speed. My favorite is B+W circular polarizer filter.
Neutral Density limits the light too, but it does not eliminate reflection. You can stack up filters, so you can get slower shutter speed, but beware, if you use extremely wide angle, your images might has vignetting on the edge of the frame.
3. Use tripod
Even though there are many lenses and cameras that have built in stabilizer feature, but this feature can’t help much when we use very slow shutter speed such as 1/2 second or slower. We need to use tripod to get a steady, crisp image.
4. Use wide angle lens
Wide angle lens gives three dimensional looks that is great for landscape in general and also waterfall. Generally, I use 16-35mm on full frame camera or 10-24mm for crop frame sensor. My Nikon 16-35mm f/4 has Vibration Reduction (VR) on it which is helpful when I can’t set up a tripod.
5. Compose horizontally and vertically
For waterfall photography, horizontal/landscape composition is to show calmness environments, while vertical/portrait is to show the strength and how powerful the waterfall is. Get both to tell a different mood.
Good luck!
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