Mossy Waterfalls
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The Colors of Life
I was hesitant to get too close to the edge because it's probably not the most stable thing in the world, but I found it worked perfectly as a framing element. I painted mist in some areas to help guide the viewers eye through the image, decreasing contrast in the farther reaches of the frame. This is a single exposure, taken at 16mm, f/13, 1/3s and ISO 100. No neutral density filters or polarizers were used, as is the case for all of my images. It was a cloudy day and earlier in the morning than I typically shoot, which helped create beautiful, soft light throughout the whole scene. The reason I typically don't shoot waterfalls in the morning is because the afternoon is when sunrays and rainbows are possible, if there's sufficient spray and the angle to the sun is correct.
Convergence
I tried to squeeze as much action as I could into one photo, which does make it a little bit chaotic, especially for small displays. Due to the sheer volume of water in the rushing cascade on the right, I had to capture it at a higher shutter speed than the rest of the image. Otherwise it came out looking too uniform and with zero detail. Overall, I had to blend 3 exposures to get the result I wanted. The light rays that occur here only happen during a short period of the year, where the flow is high enough to create heavy spray and sun in the right position to illuminate it from behind. There is maybe a 20-30 minute window, if conditions are right, to capture them on a particular day!
Whistler Creek is on the left, Kennedy Creek is on the right.
After the Storms
I remember the day my friends and I stumbled across this waterfall well. It's located along a creek that most maps don't even bother to name, just before it meets up with a more well known one. When I first saw it, the flow was so low you could easily almost walk up to the waterfall itself. However, I really wanted to capture it at high flow and this is my attempt at that. The spray from this waterfall is intense, as the narrow canyon funnels it all straight at you and your camera.
The actual shooting process was extremely difficult as a result - wiping the bulbous lens between each exposure and pressing the shutter button while my hand with the towel was still in frame. Some creative blending and healing brush work was required to put everything together. There are four key elements that I really wanted to capture for this image:
-The wet, shiny rocks
-The incredible green moss
-The lines everywhere
-And of course the water and waterfall
To capture the rocks like this requires you to avoid polarizing. As I've probably mentioned before, I don't use polarizers because a high quality setup for the Nikon 14-24 is simply not worth the huge cost to me, and because I prefer to utilize glare/reflections to add depth to my images. I love the wet, shiny look that you can get by not polarizing! But my favourite element of this image is not the rocks - it's the leading lines. Lines dominate this composition. The V shape at the top of the frame is mirrored by the upside down V shape created by the rocks and flowing water. All of the lines in the bottom half converge towards the center of the frame, as do all the lines in the top half of the frame.
Prismatic Relief
This shot is significant to me because it's my first ever image with a rainbow! It was a bit tricky to execute - the afternoon light was almost too strong, so I had to blend several different exposures to create the result I was looking for. This is why I really like to shoot on partly cloudy days. The sun will go in and out of the clouds, allowing you to take exposures with softer light and exposures with more direct light, and then you can blend them together as needed. In this image, I only wanted the harsher light on the right side and on the water, not on the surrounding forest.
Cypress Falls is one of my favourite waterfalls in Vancouver, but it's quite difficult to shoot due to the steep nature of the canyon. I've really taken a liking to this vertical perspective of it, although shooting from this spot is a constant battle with my fear of heights. There are a few spots around here that are very much no fall zones! My goal with this image was not only to capture the waterfall and rainbow, but attempt to showcase the beautiful, water worn canyon.
Secret Canyon
Fountain of Life
Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, British Columbia
West Vancouver, British Columbia
