Waterfall photography is one of the most spectacular types of photos we can create. Knowing how to take photos of waterfalls not only allows us to become great professional landscape photographers but also encourages us to become better photographers. Sometimes photo enthusiasts experience a set back in their waterfall photography. They can have trouble with the lighting. Sometimes waterfalls can be too dark or overexposed. It sounds funny to say this but sometimes the correct exposure is so hard to find. Lets examine some ways we can get the right exposure for our waterfall photos.
In this waterfall photography tutorial I will be discussing the foremost challenges with exposure. Exposure is a term to explain how much complete lighting there is. This will mean that that the brightness of your falls must be just right; not overexposed and not too dark. This can be tricky when you are taking photos of your waterfall on a bright day.
You can see one of my former photos of a waterfall. This was captured on the auto setting over ten years ago when I knew very little about photography. Fortunately times have changed and I know what to do now!
Years later when I purchased Adobe Lightroom 4 I made the decision that I'd become familiar with it by trying to fix some of my previous shots, such as this waterfall photo here.
Years later when I obtained Adobe Lightroom 4 I decided that I'd become familiar with it by trying to fix some of my previous shots, such as this waterfall photo here.
Sadly, with my waterfall photo I was not able to improve the lighting. Why? Because the image was not taken right to begin with. I tried to fix the highlights and diminish the intense brightness at the top to smooth out the lighting but it still lacked. I had to forget about this one unfortunately.
When waterfalls are captured on a bright day in the auto function we get one of two things. The waterfall is perfectly exposed and all the surrounding elements, like your mountain range and cliff face is underexposed. (Too dark.) We possibly will also be confronted by the surrounding things being just right and our waterfall having too much light (too bright.) How do we get the waterfall and the surrounds both appearing ideally exposed?
The first thing I can suggest is to photograph in soft light. A smooth grey light will not only bring out your green leaves and trees around the waterfall, but it will not overexpose anything too much. You will still need to meter off the white water however.
You will notice that when capturing your falls in gentle light, it's easier to get better exposure. The highlights are reduced and the shadows are not as strong. Light is refracted due to the overcast day and therefore we get a filtered look in our photos.
This photo was a 3 shot panorama. Water is tough when you shoot panoramas. You have to have your shutter speed on super fast. I'll talk about this in a different photography tutorial.
Let's inspect this photo a little more thoroughly. The light is coming from the upper part of the photo and we see shadows in the rock face below. To be able to create this waterfall photo I made certain that I had the correct exposure. I metered off the flowing water. You see your waterfall will be the lightest thing in the picture so it is imperative to tell the camera to meter off that. This works especially well if you are spot metering.
Let's inspect this photo a little more. The lighting is coming from the top and we can detect shadows in the rock face below. To be able to shoot this waterfall photo I made certain that I had the best exposure. I metered off the flowing water. Your waterfall will be the lightest thing in the scene so it is vital to tell the camera to meter off that. This works particularly well if you are spot metering.
This photo was taken from a distance, at the end of a very high platform, looking across a river. I wished I could have shot from a better vantage point but it was not physically achievable, so I made the most of what I had.
How to take photos of waterfalls depends on your lighting, where you stand and getting the right exposure. Once you have all three aspects covered, then you can enjoy going to the next level; editing. Sometimes bringing up the white and dark by a small part will help balance out the light even more. You may want to increase the vibrancy, or increase just one colour only. Relax and find the precise method that works for you. Soon your waterfalls will be appearing like masterpieces you will want to hang on your wall.
In this waterfall photography tutorial I will be discussing the foremost challenges with exposure. Exposure is a term to explain how much complete lighting there is. This will mean that that the brightness of your falls must be just right; not overexposed and not too dark. This can be tricky when you are taking photos of your waterfall on a bright day.
You can see one of my former photos of a waterfall. This was captured on the auto setting over ten years ago when I knew very little about photography. Fortunately times have changed and I know what to do now!
Years later when I purchased Adobe Lightroom 4 I made the decision that I'd become familiar with it by trying to fix some of my previous shots, such as this waterfall photo here.
Years later when I obtained Adobe Lightroom 4 I decided that I'd become familiar with it by trying to fix some of my previous shots, such as this waterfall photo here.
Sadly, with my waterfall photo I was not able to improve the lighting. Why? Because the image was not taken right to begin with. I tried to fix the highlights and diminish the intense brightness at the top to smooth out the lighting but it still lacked. I had to forget about this one unfortunately.
When waterfalls are captured on a bright day in the auto function we get one of two things. The waterfall is perfectly exposed and all the surrounding elements, like your mountain range and cliff face is underexposed. (Too dark.) We possibly will also be confronted by the surrounding things being just right and our waterfall having too much light (too bright.) How do we get the waterfall and the surrounds both appearing ideally exposed?
The first thing I can suggest is to photograph in soft light. A smooth grey light will not only bring out your green leaves and trees around the waterfall, but it will not overexpose anything too much. You will still need to meter off the white water however.
You will notice that when capturing your falls in gentle light, it's easier to get better exposure. The highlights are reduced and the shadows are not as strong. Light is refracted due to the overcast day and therefore we get a filtered look in our photos.
This photo was a 3 shot panorama. Water is tough when you shoot panoramas. You have to have your shutter speed on super fast. I'll talk about this in a different photography tutorial.
Let's inspect this photo a little more thoroughly. The light is coming from the upper part of the photo and we see shadows in the rock face below. To be able to create this waterfall photo I made certain that I had the correct exposure. I metered off the flowing water. You see your waterfall will be the lightest thing in the picture so it is imperative to tell the camera to meter off that. This works especially well if you are spot metering.
Let's inspect this photo a little more. The lighting is coming from the top and we can detect shadows in the rock face below. To be able to shoot this waterfall photo I made certain that I had the best exposure. I metered off the flowing water. Your waterfall will be the lightest thing in the scene so it is vital to tell the camera to meter off that. This works particularly well if you are spot metering.
This photo was taken from a distance, at the end of a very high platform, looking across a river. I wished I could have shot from a better vantage point but it was not physically achievable, so I made the most of what I had.
How to take photos of waterfalls depends on your lighting, where you stand and getting the right exposure. Once you have all three aspects covered, then you can enjoy going to the next level; editing. Sometimes bringing up the white and dark by a small part will help balance out the light even more. You may want to increase the vibrancy, or increase just one colour only. Relax and find the precise method that works for you. Soon your waterfalls will be appearing like masterpieces you will want to hang on your wall.
About the Author:
Amy Renfrey is a professional photography teacher. She is the author of several photography ebooks and a monthly photography emagazine. She shows you how to take stunning photos every single time, even if you have never used a digital camera before. Click here to learn photography the easy way.