Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: tim wolcott on June 08, 2010, 07:06:36 pm
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I have found waterfalls to be one of the most elegant ways to use photography. I have been showing and exhibiting my images all over the world and avoided waterfalls until really the last 7 years. The reason for this is that the snooty galleries referred to them as the black plague much like Europe with waterfalls.
But I believe they are the easy shoot, that everyone thinks they are. Of course we all have to many shots of Yosemite falls shot from the same angle and shot from a far.
So I decided to envision the most elegant ways to shoot waterfalls and set out to find them and capture them. I drew most of what I wanted to see and hoped to find. I know this sounds weird drawing photographs? But I draw nearly everything I hope to see, so it refreshes my mind when I'm in the field. And yes I'm a horrible drawer, maybe the worst on the planet. But it gives me ideas and let's me remember what I've seen over the years and allows me to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
So I envisioned some waterfalls in in the spring fall and summer. But as Mark pointed out shooting a waterfall is almost an instinct. But just because its a waterfall does not mean it should be shot. It must have all the elements of something amazing. I study painting, asian folding screens, other historical photographs. We all can learn something from the masters who came before us.
So now I have traveled many many places and seen many different types of waterfalls.
I have written this before but I use a framing card to compose my images just as Ansel taught me. So here are some of my favorites.
So some of these are pano stitches and others are shot straight. Most are scouted up to years in advance trying to figure out exactly what the perfect time to be there is. They are in no order of importance just 25 that I like.
I hope they inspire you to find your magical spots.
www.GalleryoftheAmericanLandscape.com Tim
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I hope they inspire you to find your magical spots.
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Very inspiring, indeed! Thanks.
I specially liked the last one: water seems to be going to flow out of my monitor.
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These aren't waterfall shots. They're beautiful landscapes that just happen to have waterfalls in them. I think there's a difference.
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Stunning!
Marc
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I live in the Pacific Northwest. I saw the article by Mark Dubovoy and your well written post today. How do you get a waterfall photograph that is different from the millions that are out there is something I struggle with every time I am in the field. Composition is oftentimes difficult because you cant get to the specific spot you really want to take the photograph. IMHO its easy to get a good waterfall photograph. It is incredibly hard however to get a great one. This weekend I am taking a full day workshop with a local professional photographer that is all about moving water. Samples too come.
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Hi there
You have some really beautiful shots. I particularly like No.s 2, 8 and very much so No. 11. These shots in particular show really beautiful strong compositions. My only gripe though would be the shadows in No. 2 and 8 are a bid weak. Maybe you need to increase the contrast in the shadow areas a bit.
Really well done.
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These aren't waterfall shots. They're beautiful landscapes that just happen to have waterfalls in them. I think there's a difference.
Bill, you are so right. They are landscapes with a waterfall in them.
I make my living selling my exhibition images so I try to shoot everything like its a piece of fine art. My goal everytime is to go out and find something unique and amazing. I spend an amazing amount of time researching and scouting, many times I leave the cabin or hotel with headlamps on and return at night with them on. The hard part there is no food or drink in the woods.
But at the end of the day, wine and good beer usually accompany our meals. Glad you liked them. T
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....its easy to get a good waterfall photograph. It is incredibly hard however to get a great one.
....its easy to get a good
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Very nice ... I like the ones with the autumn colours.
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Hi there
You have some really beautiful shots. I particularly like No.s 2, 8 and very much so No. 11. These shots in particular show really beautiful strong compositions. My only gripe though would be the shadows in No. 2 and 8 are a bid weak. Maybe you need to increase the contrast in the shadow areas a bit.
Really well done.
I checked them and you were right. I grabbed the old jpegs before adjusting the contrast. Thanks for pointing that out. T
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I only saw some of these in the gallery. To see some of these as large as 80 inches show just the talent you have acquired. These are far nicer than the ones in the article. The waterfalls are as Bill said landscapes witha waterfall in the shot. I see that there really is no other way to shoot waterfalls.
I wish I could see them all printed large. JP
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I live in the Pacific Northwest. I saw the article by Mark Dubovoy and your well written post today. How do you get a waterfall photograph that is different from the millions that are out there is something I struggle with every time I am in the field. Composition is oftentimes difficult because you cant get to the specific spot you really want to take the photograph. IMHO its easy to get a good waterfall photograph. It is incredibly hard however to get a great one. This weekend I am taking a full day workshop with a local professional photographer that is all about moving water. Samples too come.
You ask how do you get a waterfall different than the others. Keep looking and use a framing card to position the exact composition. All to often the physics of waterfall tend to wash away the good landscape around the area surrounding the falls.
I have spent a tremendous amount of travel, money and time to find these. You tend to find waterfall to be very drab and boring most of time and all to often with hugh amount dead trees, limbs and ect sticking out do to flash floods.
But to find a fall scene or a great spring bloom scene like the dogwoods is very very hard to find and extremely hard to shoot. Most photos will not have trees, leaves or flowers in the shot with a time exposure, because the of the wind. So yes the timing and days must be perfect. Glad you enjoyed them.
I will be doing some workshops in the waterfall heaven park. If your interested. Tim
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Mark, I agree with your evaluation about which of the images are the most successful in your interesting presentation. Not mentioned in the article is the texture of the falling water (not only its luminosity). I'm interested in hearing more about how you managed shutter speed and f/stop to get the water looking as silky as it does.
Cheers,
Mark
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Mark, I agree with your evaluation about which of the images are the most successful in your interesting presentation. Not mentioned in the article is the texture of the falling water (not only its luminosity). I'm interested in hearing more about how you managed shutter speed and f/stop to get the water looking as silky as it does.
Cheers,
Mark
Mark who are replying to. This article or Marks article. Or are you responding to Tim's images.
Tim I would like to know some of the info that Mark is asking about. JP
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Gorgeous, gorgeous photos! I really admire them.
Would you mind telling us, where is "waterfall heaven park"?
Lisa
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Mark who are replying to. This article or Marks article. Or are you responding to Tim's images.
Tim I would like to know some of the info that Mark is asking about. JP
To de-confuse matters between the two Marks - Mark Segal is asking Mark Dubovoy, who is the author of the L-L Feature Article, how he obtained the silky texture of the waterfalls. I was not responding to Tim's images.
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I hope they inspire you to find your magical spots.
Hello Tim,
I am puzzled by the second (615.19k) picture. Would I be wrong to assume that this is digitally composed?
I mean the leaves show no movement at all, hence I came to think, that you might have shot a few with high speed, and later imposed them onto the long exposure.
... not sure though.
Thanks for showing, most inspiring they are!
Best
Georg
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Is this a great one?
[attachment=22563:TIER_WAT...est_flat.jpg]
I live in the Pacific Northwest. I saw the article by Mark Dubovoy and your well written post today. How do you get a waterfall photograph that is different from the millions that are out there is something I struggle with every time I am in the field. Composition is oftentimes difficult because you cant get to the specific spot you really want to take the photograph. IMHO its easy to get a good waterfall photograph. It is incredibly hard however to get a great one. This weekend I am taking a full day workshop with a local professional photographer that is all about moving water. Samples too come.
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Is this a great one?
[attachment=22563:TIER_WAT...est_flat.jpg]
It's pretty but the water in the upper right has a curious pink cast to it.
Jeremy
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I am puzzled by the second (615.19k) picture. Would I be wrong to assume that this is digitally composed?
I mean the leaves show no movement at all, hence I came to think, that you might have shot a few with high speed, and later imposed them onto the long exposure.
Georg
Georg,
those are fallen leaves lying on the rock, they would not be in motion.
There is something slightly artificial looking to some of the leaves, but I take that to be an artifact of a low resolution image on screen.
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Hello Tim,
I am puzzled by the second (615.19k) picture. Would I be wrong to assume that this is digitally composed?
I mean the leaves show no movement at all, hence I came to think, that you might have shot a few with high speed, and later imposed them onto the long exposure.
... not sure though.
Thanks for showing, most inspiring they are!
Best
Georg
Georg, yes you would be wrong. I'm not tech software geek. Please no one take any offense to that. I shoot everything in one shot. But yes your right the day must be perfect to shoot that. I believe the image you are talking about was a 15 sec exposure in Pennsylvania. T
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Georg,
those are fallen leaves lying on the rock, they would not be in motion.
There is something slightly artificial looking to some of the leaves, but I take that to be an artifact of a low resolution image on screen.
I was teaching a workshop at the time this was taken. WE all had scouted our location we were going to shoot the next morning and hiked in at 4:50 am. I was shoot ing that one when a leaf from the tree above landed in the water and stuck to the rock just long enough for the shot to have been taken.
Your right the image look artificial because of the low res jpeg. But it looks unbelievable at 60 inches tall. Thanks Tim
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I was shoot ing that one when a leaf from the tree above landed in the water and stuck to the rock just long enough for the shot to have been taken.
Yeah, that explains it.
Of course, the impression of a 50inch print is an entirely different scenario. When I look at the screen representation of my own work and have my 11880 turn out a 60 inch wide bamboo print.... no comparison.
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I really enjoyed Mark's waterfall article. Thanks Mark.
This article made me think a tip jar should be there. Imagine a helpful forum where people can choose to leave small tips for the help. That would encourage good posts.
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I also enjoyed both articles but I believe you can learn more from looking at photographs and studying them. For instance I would by looking at the photographs that Tim you don't shoot like a guy. You don't crop tight like most guys do. But I will have to say that by you studying paintings, photographs and folding screens it has influenced your style of shooting for elegance.
By the way where did you shoot those fall images. Its nearly impossible such elegant places with waterfalls. JP
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Hey are you on a trip, I want to go on a trip to see these can you tell us where some of these are taken. JP
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Jamie, these were shot in Pennsylvania, utah and california. Fall images from Penn and New york. Sorry to everyone I spent a good deal of my time re-building the first green gallery in the world two blocks down.
It really came out great, sorry for the delay response. I very sore from all the building and moving. T
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I have friends coming up this week to their cabin. I will be joining them. Hope your around, can't wait to see the new gallery. JP
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This is such an interesting thread. I am trying to get to a point in my photography where I find my own voice. I am always disappointed in myself when I find myself trying to more or less copy another photographer. I love the idea of taking more inspiration from and learning from non photographic works. Tim I was wondering if you could talk more about specifically what sorts of things you have gleaned by studying past masters, and how you incorporate them into your photography.
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Well, trying to answer this question is long and tedious. It spans the learning of everything I have thought about over 25 years.
So where to start. What I like to look at is the black and white images of how they compose and how what they were looking for in lighting when they created the image. So I study the great paintings and have the privilege to be a consultant with the Smithsonian Here in my spare time I studied paintings, photography, japanese and chinese folding screen and many other inspirational artworks. Remember there are old ways of capturing images that can be dome today to create a unique look with our camera systems today.
For instance, stitching images should be thought about in the way of how a Banquet cameras took images. This I should and have been asked to do in a video.
But I have had the ability to show and exhibit my work with Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter and others. But I'm not looking to mimic them but to see what they see and improve upon it in a number of ways. Wether its lighting, use of composition, elegance of style in shooting ect.
And please don't take this as arrogance, I believe we are only as good as the way we see and pre-visualize. I spend a tremendous amount of time trying to envision what I hope to see and compose and then create and print. I have a method to my madness and Michael and others have witnessed it when being around me. I believe this is what allows me to shoot such elegant images and see lighting in a new way.
Color, I believe has been thought about wrong. My friend John Paul gets it right. Its not about the color its about the lighting the color just has to be there. But most people stop when when they see bright colors. Getting images to have dimension can be emphasized with color tones, lighting difference, focal length and unique lighting like fog, sheening light, illuminated light, reflected light and color ect. This is very hard to write about, but is very easy to show with my prints or slide shows. I wish everyone could see my new gallery and then they will see what I'm talking about.
Anyway I'm not a writer, but do have a nice lecture and its easier for everyone to see what I'm talking about. But in short, its like a puzzle picking every aspect of what you want in your final image and create it with the right Lighting, composition, depth of field, right angle to shoot the image, right focal length and the right relationship of your main subject matter to its surroundings of your highlights to your shadow area with detail. Hope this helps, maybe if you want you can talk by phone sometime. Tim
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I believe we are only as good as the way we see and pre-visualize.
Is it not nice that to have a member who appreciates art, and knows what he is doing?
It reminds me of a comment I made recently:
"I would like to take photography back to days when..."
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Was the image "In Search of the Ancient" taken at Antelope Falls also known as Bumble Bee Creek Falls? Looks really familiar, if so when was this taken? Thanks for the beautiful images
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Dick, not sure what you mean by this. I just have a unique way of looking at things and a way that works for me.
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During the past year and a half I have been doing a look of my photographing on the Aux Sauble River North of Massey and the Wakonassin River North of Webbwood in Northern Ontario.I spend a great deal of time hiking along the river looking for photographic opportunities and enjoying the wilderness.Waterfalls are my favourite.But I look within the waterfalls for my subject matter.You can check out my blog and my FAA site to view my photos.
http://kenben.wordpress.com/
http://ken-bennison.artistwebsites.com/
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Taken in Escalante Nat'l Park. It a great hike and there is a smaller one up river and is hard to find. Tim
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Very nice shot! I like in the rivers path the best, but they are all really nice.
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I agree this one is very nice as a black and white and color image. When I saw the scene, I felt that it was an image the Paul Caponigro would like to have shot. It has the look of something a Japanese Garden would have made to show zen.
THey all act on each other and still is a very good seller. But only sells to men. Glad you like this, I posted them all for certain reasons and represent different ideas of nature but they all have elegance. Tim
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I got your amazing book and I think I like the Secret Garden. What an amazing complex shot. Jp
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Was the image "In Search of the Ancient" taken at Antelope Falls also known as Bumble Bee Creek Falls? Looks really familiar, if so when was this taken? Thanks for the beautiful images
It's lower calf creek falls located between the towns of Boulder and Escalante on UT highway 12 (one of the most secnic roads in North America). It's about a 6 mile hike (round trip) over mostly flat ground with some slickrock and some sand. Info Here. (http://"http://www.utah.com/hike/calf_creek.htm")
Taken in Escalante Nat'l Park.
Pssst Tim, there is no such place (yet). Technically it's the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. :) I have about 10 favorties in all of those.
Its not about the color its about the lighting the color just has to be there. But most people stop when when they see bright colors. Getting images to have dimension can be emphasized with color tones, lighting difference, focal length and unique lighting like fog, sheening light, illuminated light, reflected light and color ect.
VERY well said. My quote of the day for sure. Thanks for that.
I hope they inspire you to find your magical spots.
This is my magical spot. If you've ever been to Zion and rode the bus up the canyon, you've been within 100 yds of this spot, but I bet you missed it... ;)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_WpjZ6QdCK0Q/S_IlNiv8UjI/AAAAAAAAGEw/I8xc94x5RWY/DSC08980a.JPG)
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Here are a few more. Tim
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Nice stuff!
I, too, was taught by AA and still have that passion.
Keep on shooting!
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I got the privilege to talk to him a bunch and get a chance to see and thing about shooting with elegance. I later finally got the chance to help make Evercolor that he was trying to invent and then turned that into pigment inkjet. Would love to chat with you sometime. I'll be at the gallery tomorrow. 9098789214