Local Legend

This is a waterfall about five minutes from my house. What’s funny is that before I picked up a camera a year ago, I had no idea this existed.

I shot this after a few rainy days, looking back on it, I’m kind of surprised the left hand side is as empty as it is. I may need to come back after a pretty strong storm and see if that side fills in a bit more. As soon as I got down here I knew I wanted to use the rock face on the left as a bit of a frame for the rest of the image. I’m not 100% sure it works. I spent a lot of time messing with different shutter speeds to try to get something that resembled some motion without turning to mush. It was a cloudy morning but those background trees were catching a fair amount of light as there is another pretty big drop just feet behind me, hence nothing to block them from the sun, they are at the highest point in the immediate area. I wish there was a bit more interest in the bottom 1/4 of the image, but by getting closer I would lose the left and right rock walls. I could throw on an ND filter and try to get some more streaks with multiple exposures.

Specific Feedback Requested

I am open to anything and everything! Fire away!

Technical Details

Is this a composite: Yes
It is a composite because I focus stacked, the wall on the left is just a foot or two away.
35mm, f5.0, 0.5 sec, ISO 125 (this was accidental, probably has no impact but should have been 100).

Dave, this looks very good. I like the framing on both sides and your choice of shutter speed. I’m a fan of flowing water shutters in the 0.2 s to 0.5 s range as it blurs the water while retaining the textures underneath. Longer shutters (via ND filters) would give you streaking in the outflow, which might be useful compositionally. This looks like a site where the overcast is important to prevent the trees above the falls from being overexposed. In five minutes, there are a ton of things you can try, including getting your feet wet…

I especially like how the light is catching the rocks on both sides of the image.

The framing and lighting are wonderful, David. Nicely seen and captured.

@Mark_Seaver getting in the water might not be a bad idea here, I have to remember to prepare for that before I go!

@Ronald_Murphy That is one of the elements I enjoyed the most so I tried to target it with just a bid of dodging during processing.

@linda_mellor Thank you! The framing is what pulled me in immediately, as soon as I got down there I knew what I wanted to do. I wasn’t sure if it would translate to an image or not, but I knew what I was drawn to in that moment.

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It’s amazing how much we discover once we pick up a camera. So glad you’ve found a local gem. In full roar I bet it’s incredible. The rocks are so like steps you can imaging people had a hand in its creation, but no. I think getting into the water is a good idea and you might try a lower angle to see how intimidating the rocks and falls might be. Water coming at you from low down is always exciting. Nice job!