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Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Tips on photographing waterfalls

With our July photo shoot being waterfalls, here’s some thoughts on the subject. When doing your research, try to determine which direction the falls face. That will give you a clue to the time of day you want to shoot. Falls facing the sun can produce glare that will burn out details in the water. Some adjustments would be: go when the sky is overcast and find a location where the boring sky is not a factor in the composition, pick a time when the sun is not directly on the falls, use a polarizing filter to cut the glare, or underexpose the picture and brighten it to suit in the computer.

Connie Stuffle’s photo of McCormick’s Creek Falls, which is 15 miles NE of Bloomington, Indiana along State Route 46.

When arriving at a falls, a number decisions need to be made. If there’s a lot of water, you might select a little faster shutter speed. If the flow is not much, use a slower shutter speed to create the illusion of a fuller falls. It’s a personal taste whether you want the flow to be wispy or slightly blurred. In either case, the shutter speed will probably be slower than 1/15th of a second at a small lens opening and at ISO 100 while the camera is on a tripod. Check your results and make the necessary settings adjustments. Remember that your shutter speed and lens opening work together. A slower shutter means a smaller lens opening.

When you want a waterfall or stream to appear more wispy or full using an iPhone 8, tap on the camera, select photo, then tap the live photo icon to the right of the flash symbol at the top. Frame a little extra space to the left and right of the subject to assure that the entire subject will be in the shot.

Place it in a selfie-stick holder on a tripod or hold the phone as steady as possible for a couple of seconds before and after you tap the shutter button. This is a good situation to plug in the ear buds and trigger the shutter with the + or – volume control to help keep the phone steady. Next, tap on the picture just taken at the bottom on the left. When the photo opens, swipe up with your finger to reveal 2 Effects-Live and Loop. Swipe left with your finger to reveal 2 more- Bounce and Long Exposure. Tap on the Long Exposure and the wispy waterfall or whatever appears.

POSTED: 06/24/19 at 10:00 am. FILED UNDER: Camera Club News