Fall at the falls – III
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Time to get close to the water. This is what I really like to shot. To take in the details in the rocks, the flow of the water, and the incredible colors you get this time of year. Often, you will see the colors of the trees reflect in the small rapids.
Enjoy. :)
Fall at the falls – II
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Where im standing while taking this shot and the shot in the next post, is actually under water during the spring thaw. It’s the very top part of the Onaping falls, or High Falls as some call it. You can see where the water level usually runs when the river is at its peak. As you probably have noticed if you have seen my pictures on this blog, I LOVE to get close in on the falls. I like this shot, but when i got home I realized that the top right corner is blown out. I could crop it out, but it makes the shot boring, so I left it in. I guess I need to get a split grad filter for next time.
Oh by the way. In case you missed the first shot in the mini-series, just click here. For more fall colors, or just to check out my site, click here.
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More falls colors
Nikon D300, Nikkor 15-35mm f/4, 35mm, f/6.7, 1/750sec, ISO20
It’s time for some more fall-fireworks from High Falls in Onaping, Ontario. Please feel free to click on the images for a larger 1200px view.
Above is from the trail that takes you along the falls and into the bush. If you walk far enough you will eventually end up on a look out that is over grown by now. Its called Sudbury Basin Lookout. Beautiful spot, but the sun was in the wrong place to get a usable shot from there.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 15-35mm f/4, 35mm, f/9.5, 1/125sec, ISO200
One more from the trail. This shot was also posted on Google+
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm f/4, 70mm, f/27, 1/2sec, ISO200
After walking in the bush for a couple of hours with a heavy backpack, I’m back at the falls dead tired and sweating like a ..well you know what I mean. I got there just in time for the late afternoon sun hitting the trees across the falls, which reflects these amazing green and golden colors along with the sky in the water. I could not pass this opportunity to grab a few shots of that. Absolutely gorgeous place.
Before I sign off, I want to say a huge Thank you for all your nice comments and tweets. Please know that they are all very much appreciated.
Fall colors at High Falls
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200, 29mm, f/27, 1.0 sec, ISO100, B+W circular polarizer
As mentioned in an earlier post, the weather has been outstanding up here lately. So there is no excuse, just get out there and shoot. I have explored the High Falls in Onaping, Ontario af few times now, and it changes every time I’m up there. The shots in this post are from the end of September, at the peak of the color show. I decided to put more than one shot up today, because I have a lot of shots from this place, and my blogging has been a bit on the slow side lately. It is nice to have some new ammo, so here we go.
Oh btw, if you are on a big monitor, feel free to click the images for a larger view.
The top shot is from the basin at the top of the falls. The incredible colors of the late afternoon sun on the trees and the sky paints the water. Amazing place to shot when it looks like this.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200, 27mm, f/8, 1/3 sec, ISO200, B+W circular polarizer
This shot is roughly half way down the falls. At this time of year the water flow in the falls are really low, so there are plenty of opportunity to get very close to the rocks and the falls. It’s a very different story in the spring…
Nikon D300, Nikkor 16-35 f/4, 35mm, f/11, 0.7 sec, ISO200
The last big drop before the water slows down and continue its run down the Onaping River.
Running water
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm, 60mm, f/27, 0.5 sec, ISO100
To me, one of the coolest things in photographs are when there is a sense of movement, there is an energy or a power in the shot. Examples of that could be lightning, storm clouds, streaking cars or trains. Water does the trick for me. I love shooting running water and by playing around with long exposures you get some pretty neat effects. To me, a tag sharp image of water falling or running is less interesting than if there is a blur to the water. Water in rivers and creeks moves, sometimes fast, sometimes slowly usually depending on the time of year and to me that movement needs to be in a shot of, lets say, a waterfall. In order to get the sense of flowing water or that cool silky look, the shutter speed needs to be slowed down – way down.
Here are a few tips on how to achieve that look.
- Use a good solid tripod.
- Use a cable release or use the timer on the camera.
- Keep ISO low.
- Use aperture mode and choose a small aperture like f/16 or f/22
- Shoot at dawn or dusk, or on an over cast day.
- To cut even more light use a polarizer, which not only remove reflections and boost colors, but also eats at least one stop of light – slowing down the shutter speed even more..
- Or you can use a ND filter also called natural density filter. The will usually reduce the light between 1 and 10 stops depending on which one you buy.
- Your goal is to end up with a shutter speed at around 1/10 sec or slower. It depends on how fast the water moves of course, but generally at that shutter speed the magic starts to happen and you get that silky smooth feel of water running.
Try it out next time you are out shooting running water, it’s very rewarding. Btw, the shot above is from Moose Creek, Levack, Ontario.
