Water Falling Over Things 2006, Part I (DIAL-UP WARNING)

[regnaD kciN]

If you recall, last year, I began a series I referred to (in a tongue-in-cheek manner) as Water Falling Over Things -- i.e. local waterfalls.

For my first installment this year, I bring you Skookum Falls, on the northeast slope of Mount Rainier. When first I visited these falls, a couple of months ago, they were half-frozen. (The light was also horrible for taking photos.)



But spring has arrived (in its typical gray, rainy Northwest fashion, which is, paradoxically, good for shooting waterfalls), and here are the falls as of yesterday afternoon.



In neither case have I been able to make it closer than the other side of White River -- when I'm able to actually hike to the base of the falls themselves, I'll add more photos.

Stay tuned for the next installment in WFOT 2006, coming soon!

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Love the way you captured the spray in the first photo

and the second one looks like a ribbon draping down the cliff.

Great photos!!

[regnaD kciN]

2. Actually, the "spray" in the first photo...

...is frozen water covered with snow. There was no trick to capturing it at all; just point and shoot.

The second one was made with a slow shutter speed (1/4 sec), which is a common technique for giving a silky look to waterfalls or rivers. Of course, you need a tripod to shoot like that, and you also need an overcast day, since a sunlit scene will be too bright to slow down the shutter enough even at the smallest aperature. Yesterday was dark and rainy -- even with that, I had to use a two-stop neutral density filter to darken the scene enough to get that slow a speed.

[lakemonster11]

3. Skookum!

I went up to Twin Falls State Park the other day, and the water was gushing like crazy.







I'm bringing my tripod next time so I can get the nice soft long exposure effect.

[regnaD kciN]

4. This is the "Twin Falls" near North Bend, right...?

There's another one south of Darrington, but that looks like a bear of a hike to get to (not to mention one where you're likely to encounter a bear).

[lakemonster11]

6. Yeah, the one near North Bend.

[regnaD kciN]

5. Water Falling Over Things 2006, Part 1/2

I almost forgot -- Skookum wasn't the only waterfall I visited this year. In early April, I was at Granite Falls (near the town of, you guessed it, Granite Falls). However, the water was so silt-filled and murky that the falls weren't very attractive. Impressive, yes; beautiful, no. These were the best of the bunch:

[lakemonster11]

7. That second picture is awesome.

[regnaD kciN]

10. Yes, and if the water looked blue...

...instead of olive-drab, it might have had some value as a print for sale. But few people want to look at water that seems dirty to them. :-(

I also find that the first photo looks a lot better if one photoshops out the viewing platform and tourists cluttering up the right side of the image...





"... but it would be wrong." ;-)

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Beautiful...

I think I prefer these to the top ones - even if you think they're "less than."

[bvar22]

9. I love waterfalls.

Your pics are beautiful.

I'm currently in the process of photographing a particular waterfall.
I'm going to try a slower shutter tomorrow.
Thanks!

[regnaD kciN]

11. With that 18-200 VR lens of yours...

...(envy, envy, envy)...you might even be able to hand-hold at a slow enough shutter speed to get the veiling effect.

I really want that body/lens combo...alas, in the immortal words of the Big Bopper, "I ain't got nooooo money, honey!" :nopity: