Waterfall photography is one of the most stunning styles of photos we can create. Knowing how to take pictures of waterfalls not only allows us to become great panorama photographers but also assists us to attempt to become better photographers generally. There is one problem with capturing photos of waterfalls that many photo enthusiasts have difficulty with. That is the daylight. Sometimes waterfalls can be too dark or overexposed. It seems to be a challenge to get the precise exposure. Lets inspect some ways we can take tack sharp and clear images of waterfalls.
In this waterfall photography tutorial I will be showing you how to solve the foremost problems with exposure. Exposure is a term to explain how much general light there is in the photo. Keep in mind that it's not how much light in the scene, it means how much you have in the photo itself. This means that the exposure of your waterfall 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 invested in Lightroom 4 I decided that would try and fix some of my earlier photos.
When waterfalls are captured on a bright day in the automatic 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 might also be faced with the surrounding things being just right and our waterfall being overexposed (too bright.) How do we get the waterfall and the surrounds both appearing perfectly exposed?
When waterfalls are taken on a bright day in the auto setting we get one of two things. The waterfall is flawlessly exposed and all the surrounding elements, like your mountain range and cliff face is not exposed enough. (Too dark.) We may also be challenged by the surrounding elements being ideal and our waterfall having too much light (too bright.) How do we get the waterfall and the surrounds both looking ideally exposed?
The initial thing I can advocate is to shoot in filtered light. A smooth grey light from cloud cover will not only highlight your green leaves and trees surrounding the waterfall, but it will not over saturate anything too much. You will still need to meter off the white water however.
Let's take a look at some examples of what waterfalls look like in filtered light.
Let's take a look at some examples of what waterfalls look like in filtered light.
This photo was a 3 shot panorama. Water is tricky when you shoot panoramas. You have to have your shutter on extremely fast. I'll talk about this in a different photography tutorial.
This photo was taken from a fair distance, at the end of a very high platform, gazing across a river. I wanted to be able to have a more interesting vantage point but it was not physically achievable, so I made the most of what I had.
This photo was taken from a distance, at the end of a very high platform, gazing across a river. I wanted to be able to have a unique 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 showing you how to solve the foremost problems with exposure. Exposure is a term to explain how much general light there is in the photo. Keep in mind that it's not how much light in the scene, it means how much you have in the photo itself. This means that the exposure of your waterfall 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 invested in Lightroom 4 I decided that would try and fix some of my earlier photos.
When waterfalls are captured on a bright day in the automatic 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 might also be faced with the surrounding things being just right and our waterfall being overexposed (too bright.) How do we get the waterfall and the surrounds both appearing perfectly exposed?
When waterfalls are taken on a bright day in the auto setting we get one of two things. The waterfall is flawlessly exposed and all the surrounding elements, like your mountain range and cliff face is not exposed enough. (Too dark.) We may also be challenged by the surrounding elements being ideal and our waterfall having too much light (too bright.) How do we get the waterfall and the surrounds both looking ideally exposed?
The initial thing I can advocate is to shoot in filtered light. A smooth grey light from cloud cover will not only highlight your green leaves and trees surrounding the waterfall, but it will not over saturate anything too much. You will still need to meter off the white water however.
Let's take a look at some examples of what waterfalls look like in filtered light.
Let's take a look at some examples of what waterfalls look like in filtered light.
This photo was a 3 shot panorama. Water is tricky when you shoot panoramas. You have to have your shutter on extremely fast. I'll talk about this in a different photography tutorial.
This photo was taken from a fair distance, at the end of a very high platform, gazing across a river. I wanted to be able to have a more interesting vantage point but it was not physically achievable, so I made the most of what I had.
This photo was taken from a distance, at the end of a very high platform, gazing across a river. I wanted to be able to have a unique 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.
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