Waterfall Photography

Have you ever seen the beautiful pictures of waterfalls that seem like they are flowing like silk? Photographers simply slow the shutter speed down and catch the water as it is moving which makes it look like a sheet of silk or even a fog rolling over rocks. Some of the most beautiful waterfall pictures are taken with this method. There are certain pieces of equipment that you will need in order to take theses type of pictures. First you will need a digital SLR camera. These are cameras in which you can control the shutter speed and FSTOP. It is important that you control the shutter speed, as this is where that misting affect comes into play when photographing waterfalls.

A tripod will be needed for your camera. In some cases, you may also need a polarizing filter to make the pictures smoother and to filter the sunlight so the photos are not too bright. If you try to take pictures with slower shutter speeds just my holding the camera, the pictures will turn out blurry because of the small movements you make when holding the camera. What you will do is set up the tripod with the camera attached in front of the waterfall that you would like to take a picture of. There really is no right way of taking waterfall photos, depends on how you like the photos to look. Adjust the shutter speed so that it is slower, usually, a 6 second delay creates a nice silky affect. Adjust the FSTOP so that you compensate for the lighting in the area.Do not be upset if your first photos come out too bright or blurry, keep adjusting until the camera is taking the photos you want. The unfortunate thing about the shutter delay is that everything around the waterfall, whether it be people or trees will turn out blurry if they are moving in front of the lens. So you may have a beautiful waterfall picture, but blurry trees and people in the background. As a beginning photographer, these type of photos should not be too difficult for you to learn. You may also attend special instructive classes that explain how to properly use your camera.