Same Falls, Different Views

So one of the places that we visited on our trip to Oregon for a family reunion was the Silver Falls. We did a seven mile hike and saw 13 sets of falls and I don't remember the names of them at all. But while there I tried several different techniques for photographing falling water. I had a small tripod but due to the fact that I was hiking with 10 other people part of which were teenagers with attitudes I couldn't take the time that I really wanted so that I could use it each time. But I did the next best thing and found trees to steady my camera and allow for time exposures. I used a #4 Neutral Density filter since it was a very clear and bright day but was often surprised that I didn't need it since we were hiking into places where the moss hung thick on the huge tress and the light was not nearly as bright as I thought that it would be. This set of falls, as did several of the others, had a trail behind them so that you could hike to the other side without having to cross through the river. That trail allowed for me to take several pictures from different views of the falls.
So here is a quick rundown on part of the images that I took. The first three images were taken with different shutter speeds. The first was taken for 1/320th of a second with an F stop of 3.5 and an ISO of 1600.  I love digital cameras since you can change the ISO each time you take an image. It is really a lot more fun than carrying several cameras with different speed film loaded into each one.

This one was taken for .4  seconds with an F stop of 13.0 and an ISO of 200. My family in this image gives a little sense for the size of the falls.

This third one was taken for 1/8th of a second with an F stop of 3.5 and an ISO of 200. I loved the way the light was coming onto the falls making them very pretty from this particular angle.

This image was taken from almost directly behind the falls looking down to the rocks where the water first landed.  This was handheld at 1/160th of a second with an f stop of 5.6 and an ISO of 3200.

Here is the next one taken from the same location as the last only looking up to where the water came over the falls. Again this was handheld at 1/2000th of a second with an f stop of 5.6 and an ISO of 3200.



Taken at 1/500th of a second, f5.6 and ISO at 3200 I did the middle of the falls. As soon as  get a chance I want to try to stitch them together but I don't hold out much hope for a good image, just wanted to try it with a vertical set of images not horizontal as it is usually done.



Here is a look at the falls from the other side from the trail as it first comes past the falls. .5 sec, f 5.6, ISO 100.  Portrait orientation.


Here is a look at the falls from the other side from the trail as it first comes past the falls. .5 sec, f 5.6, ISO 100. Landscape orientation.


Finally this one was taken at 1/60th of a second, f 8.0 and ISO 1600. Again handheld and quickly shot with no tree to steady me as I was hurrying back to catch up with the group that had not waited for my fun to end there at those falls. (It did still take us about 4 hours to make the hike that they had expected to do in two and the others who couldn't or didn't hike were waiting at home ready to have dinner long before we got there. Oh well I probably will never get to visit these falls again and I didn't feel bad about taking the time. The others still got to eat and maybe not on schedule but the hike was far to beautiful to just run past them. Part of being a photographer is taking the time to do it as you go so you have some good images, with the bad, to choose from when you get back.)