The Secrets of Stunning Waterfall Photography

Waterfalls are among my favourite nature photography subjects. Their elegance, movement, and ever-changing character make them beautiful to capture, but they do present a number of practical and technical challenges which can make them difficult to shoot.

The following waterfall photography tips will help you snap stunning images, and master the technical and creative sides of photographing this fascinating subject.

Capture Their Motion

One of the most interesting things about waterfalls is the way they move. From the meandering flow of water across rocks to the splash and spray of a crashing torrent, they're always full of energy and excitement.

Motion is a key aspect of waterfalls, so be sure to include it in your photos. Image by Paul Bica.

The key to capturing this movement is choosing the best camera settings before you start shooting. So flick your camera into Shutter Priority or Manual mode and set it up as follows.

Shutter Speed

Every waterfall is different, and there's no single "correct" shutter speed to use, but if you want to capture movement in the water you'll need to use a slow shutter speed - generally somewhere from 0.3 seconds up to several seconds.

A good rule of thumb is to start with a speed of 1 second and take a test shot. Review it on your camera's LCD screen and adjust until you get the correct level of blurring. Don't worry if the scene is overexposed; we'll adjust other settings to compensate for that.

Tripod

With such a low shutter speed you won't be able to hand-hold your camera. A sturdy tripod is an essential accessory here.

ISO

Set your ISO as low as it will go (typically around ISO 100 or so). This reduces your camera's sensitivity, allowing you to use slower shutter speeds without overexposing the scene. It also has the added benefit of reducing the amount of digital noise in your photos.

Aperture

Using your lens's narrowest aperture will again let you use a longer exposure time. It will also give you the maximum depth of field, keeping as much of your scene in focus as possible.

Filters

If you still can't get your camera to go slow enough you'll need to use some filters to reduce the amount of light that's being let in. Professional nature photographers swear by neutral density (ND) filters, which reduce the light without affecting the colours in the scene.

An excellent alternative is a polarising filter. This does the same job as an ND filter but has the added benefits of reducing reflections (for example from water, wet rocks, and leaves) and increasing colour saturation for a more vivid image.

Shoot at the Right Time of Day

Bright sunlight can easily ruin a waterfall photograph. The intense light casts strong shadows across the scene, making it difficult to get your expsosure right. It also causes hundreds of reflections in the water and wet scenery, which will show up as tiny white dots in your shot.

Avoid bright sunlight to keep your exposure even. Image by Nicholas.

To avoid these problems, shoot around sunrise or sunset (the so-called "golden hour"), when the sun's light is less intense and more diffuse. These times of day make it easier to get a more even exposure, and the reduced light means you can use a slow shutter speed more readily. Overcast days produce excellent lighting conditions for the same reasons.

Find an Interesting Composition

With all of these technical aspects to consider, it's easy to forget the creative side. Waterfalls are just like any other photographic subject, and you need to take the time to choose a striking, engaging composition.

Look for an Unusual Viewpoint

When faced with a waterfall, most people will stand right on the bank of the river, a short way downstream, and point their camera directly at the waterfall. More often than not this will result in the same uninspiring photo that we've all seen a thousand times before.

Look around for an unusual angle. Image by Jeff Smallwood.

Spend some time exploring the surroundings to find a more interesting composition. Try photographing from high above, through trees or bushes, from behind the waterfall, or from just above the stream for a more unusual and creative viewpoint.

Include Scenery or People

For all their beauty, it has to be said that a lot of waterfalls look very similar to one another, and sometimes you get the feeling that if you've seen one, you've seen them all. A great way to overcome this is to include other elements that add interest to the scene.

Include scenery and foreground objects to add interest and context. Image by Becky.

Foreground rocks, bridges, and interesting plants all help to give your photo context. This gives the viewer a better sense of the place you were in, and allows them to "explore" the scene visually, creating a more engaging shot.

Including people is one of the surest ways to add interest to a photo. Waterfalls are no exception, and a well-placed person will create a focal point that might otherwise be lacking. People are also a great way to give your photo a sense of scale.

Shoot in Landscape

Because waterfalls tend to be tall and thin, most people hold their camera in portrait orientation without even thinking. Again, this often produces a shot which is just like all the others. Holding your camera in landscape orientation may seem unnatural, but it will force you to take in more of the surroundings and be more creative with the way you frame the scene.

Shoot in landscape for a more unusual view. Image by Arnar Valdimarsson.

Waterfall photography can be a tricky subject to master. Getting the perfect shot requires patience, a methodical approach, and a certain amount of experimentation, but the impact of a well-taken waterfall photo more than justifies the time and effort you've put in.

Understanding and Using "Negative Space" in Photography

Negative space, sometimes referred to as white space, is a concept that's been used in art, design, architecture, and sculpture for hundreds of years. It's equally useful in photography, and can be used to turn an average photo into an outstanding one.

Unfortunately it's something that's understood by relatively few people, but with a little bit of practice it can help you look at your photos in a new way, transforming your compositions and producing truly breathtaking results.

What is Negative Space?

Put simply, negative space is the area which surrounds the main subject in your photo (the main subject is known as the "positive space"). This definition is rather abstract, so take the following example; the power lines in this image form the positive space while the sky is the negative space.

The sky in this photo forms the negative space around the main subject. Image by Lee.

Negative space defines and emphasises the main subject of a photo, drawing your eye to it. It provides "breathing room", giving your eyes somewhere to rest and preventing your image from appearing too cluttered with "stuff". All of this adds up to a more engaging composition.

Negative space provides breathing room and draws your eye to the main subject. Image by Ruben Alexander.

When used properly, negative space provides a natural balance against the positive space in a scene. Getting this balance right is tricky and rather subjective, but it's something you'll get better at with time and practice.

How to Use Negative Space in Your Photography

Our brains are full of preconceived ideas about the way objects look, in terms of their size, shape, colour, texture, and so on. Unfortunately these preconceptions distort the way we view a scene, and this can lead to photos which look good in our mind but not so good in reality.

The key to overcoming these problems is to ignore the objects in the scene altogether and instead concentrate on the gaps between and around them. This forces you to pay more attention to your composition, and helps you see shapes and sizes more accurately.

Focus on the spaces between objects to balance them more effectively. Image by Joost J Bakker.

When framing your photo, adjust your composition until the positive and negative spaces in the shot feel well balanced against one another. Be generous with the amount of empty space you leave, and don't feel you have to cram something interesting into every square inch of the frame.

Something I love to do from time to time is go through my old pictures in Photoshop or Lightroom, experimenting with different crops to see how they affect the overall feel of the shot. This is a great way to learn how to use negative space, and it's amazing how a small change in composition can make a big difference to the effectiveness of a photo.

Experiment with different compositions to see how they affect the feel of the photo. Image by Extra Medium.

Mastering the use of negative space takes time. We're so used to focusing on the main subject in a scene that it can seem strange to treat it almost as an afterthought. However, doing so will make you consider each element in your scene more carefully, leading to much stronger compositions.

5 Keys to Finding the Perfect Portrait Location

One of the most important aspects of portrait photography is picking a suitable location. Your choice will drive all other decisions about the shoot, including what lighting and props to take, which clothes the subject should wear, and the most suitable poses to use.

Shooting in a studio with a plain background is a popular choice, but it can be expensive, and these types of shots have been done a million times. You can usually get much more interesting, engaging pictures by using your imagination and choosing a more unusual portrait location.

Choose a Meaningful Place

It's easy to choose a portrait location based on convenience. For example, if you live near a leafy park, it's tempting to use that as your default shooting location. But while this may look attractive, it's not always the best option.

Select a meaningful location which reflects your subject's personality. Image by Dustin Diaz.

Remember that every subject is a unique individual, with their own personality. This is what makes them so interesting, and it's something you should try to capture in every portrait you take. Choosing a suitable location is an important part of this.

Take the time to get to know your subject. Find out about their hobbies and favourite places and incorporate them into your photography. If they're an avid horse rider, shoot them at their stables; if they love to surf, go to their local beach.

By using a location that means something to your subject, you'll get much more personal, meaningful photos. As an added bonus, they're likely to feel more relaxed, helping you capture more natural-looking shots.

Use Natural Lighting

Most professional portrait photographers swear by natural lighting, and some refuse to shoot in anything else. If possible, choose a brightly lit location which offers plenty of diffused, natural light.

Choose a location with plenty of soft, natural lighting. Image by Dan Foy.

When shooting outdoors it's important to avoid the direct midday sun as this produces very harsh shadows. Look for some light shade such as an overhanging tree or covered seating area, where the sunlight is softer and more flattering. Alternatively, shoot in the morning or early evening when the sun isn't as strong.

If you're shooting indoors, try to position your subject near a large window so that you can make the most of any available natural light. Depending on your budget and the equipment you have available you can compliment this with some artificial lighting if necessary.

Set Up Near Shelter

If you choose an outdoor portrait location, there's always a chance that the weather will spoil the party. Sometimes you'll just have to take a chance and hope it stays dry, but try to have a backup in case the weather turns bad.

Anticipating bad weather means you can stop it ruining your shoot, or even incorporate it into your photos. Image by Sam Javanrouh.

Look for a location which has some sort of shelter nearby, such as a bridge, bandstand, or cafe. These can be life-savers during a quick shower, helping you keep yourself, your equipment, and your subject dry - particularly important if they're paying!

If the weather gets really bad you may even be able to move your whole photoshoot under cover. With open-sided shelter you can often recompose to keep a natural background behind your subject, and as long as the lighting is good enough nobody will ever tell you weren't fully outdoors.

Choose Somewhere Quiet

Crowded places, like cities or busy public parks, are among the worst locations for a portrait shoot. You'll be constantly waiting for people to move out of frame and dealing with questions from passers-by, plus your subject will probably feel very self-conscious and struggle to relax.

Shoot in a quiet place to avoid disturbances and help your subject relax. Image by Paulo Alegria.

Finding a quiet, secluded location is not as difficult as it might seem. If you must shoot in a city, get off the beaten track - by moving just a few hundred yards away you can usually find a spot where you and your subject can set up undisturbed.

Better still, avoid cities altogether and head for remote beaches, grassy fields, and woodland. These all provide great backdrops to a portrait photo, and are often completely deserted, giving you free-reign to move around and experiment with different poses and angles.

Don't Let the Location Distract

A suitable location is crucial in portrait photography, but always remember that it's not the main subject, so don't let it overpower your scene. From time to time during your shoot, check the photos you've taken - if your eye is drawn more to the scenery than the subject, you're putting too much emphasis on the wrong thing.

Your location should never take attention away from your subject. Image by Steve Evans.

A simple and effective technique is to open your lens's aperture up nice and wide. This puts the background out of focus, preventing it from being too distracting, creating a sense of depth in the scene, and drawing the viewer's eye to the main subject.

Choosing an effective portrait location takes time and thought, but it's something that you should always aim to get right. By doing so you'll be able to tell a story with your pictures, and capture the essence of your subject's personality, resulting in much more engaging, personal photos.

Using Coloured Filters in Black and White Photography

Black and white filters let you control how colours are converted to shades of grey. Use them to get the right contrast and mood in your photos.

A common problem in black and white photography is that certain colours look very similar when converted into greyscale. For example, some shades of red, green, and blue look completely different in colour, but almost identical in black and white.

This can cause objects in a black and white image to blend into one another, leaving you with a photo which is flat and lifeless, and lacking in contrast and definition.

Coloured lens filters offer a solution to this problem because they affect the way colours are "converted" to black and white. This allows you to control the way they appear in the final image, ensuring that objects are well separated and clearly defined.

Black and White Filter Basics

There are 5 filter colours that are commonly used in black and white photography - red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Each lets through its own colour of light and blocks other colours to varying degrees. For example, a red filter will let red light through, but block most green and blue.

The result is that colours matching the filter colour appear brighter in the final image, while other colours appear darker. In black and white photography this means that objects appear as lighter or darker shades of grey.

This image shows how different filters affect the way colours are converted to black and white:

Different coloured filters (top line) affect your scene's greys in different ways.

Using Black and White Filters

Because of their different effects, each colour filter tends to be used in a different way.

Red Filters

Red filters produce a very strong effect and greatly increase contrast. They're often considered too "harsh" for most types of photography, but can be used to produce striking creative effects.

A red filter gives extreme, dramatic contrast. Image by Nicholas.

In landscape photography, a red filter will turn a blue sky almost black and make clouds really stand out, giving the scene a dramatic feel. They're also excellent for increasing visibility in haze and fog.

When shooting plants they help increase definition between flowers and foliage. This is particularly useful when shooting red flowers, as they have a similar tone to the surrounding leaves.

Red filters produce such an extreme effect that they can make your photo look like it's been shot through an infrared filter. This makes them a popular, cheaper alternative to true infrared photography.

Orange Filters

Orange filters sit between red and yellow filters, giving a nice balance of each one's properties. This makes them a popular general purpose filter.

An orange filter gives warm, smooth skin tones. Image by David Jubert.

In portrait photography, an orange filter reduces the appearance of freckles and blemishes, giving the skin a healthy, smooth look.

When photographing buildings and cityscapes, they give bricks a pleasing tone, and increase contrast between different materials to add depth and texture to the image.

Similarly to red filters, they can be used to reduce the appearance of fog and haze, and to darken skies and emphasise clouds.

Yellow Filters

Yellow filters produce the most subtle effect of the 5 coloured filters. In some cases the difference is barely noticeable, but it can help to lift a photo just enough. They're a popular choice for beginners as they can be used in virtually any type of photography.

A yellow filter gives slightly darkened blues, increasing sky contrast. Image by Alex Gorstan.

When snapping landscapes a yellow filter darkens the sky slightly, helping to balance its exposure against the darker ground. They also bring out clouds nicely, resulting in more interesting skies.

In portrait photography, they produce warm, natural, pleasing flesh tones, like an orange filter but less intense.

Yellow filters are good for separating shades of green, and can be used whe photographing plants to increase the contrast of foliage.

Green Filters

Green filters are less popular than the others but are useful in some circumstances.

A green filter lightens greens, separating foliage and flowers. Image by aussiegal.

A green filter is mainly used for photographing plants as it helps separate the green foliage from the brightly-coloured flowers and buds.

They can also be used in landscape photography to boost the appearance of grass and trees, but they also lighten the sky so you need to be careful not to lose detail there.

Blue Filters

Blue filters are rarely used for black and white photography. They darken most colours and reduce contrast across an image.

A blue filter darkens most colours and is used to reduce contrast. Image by Tony Armstrong.

When used correctly, this reduced contrast can be useful for giving a shot a calm, soothing atmosphere. A blue filter also increases the appearance of haze and mist, making it handy for enhancing the mood of an early-morning scene.

If you're serious about black and white photography then a selection of coloured filters is a great addition to your kit. They'll give you much more control over the way your photos appear, helping you to create mood, balance contrast, and emphasise the most important parts of a scene.

Tips, Tricks & Techniques to Improve Your Photography

The top online guide to digital & conventional photography

PhotographyTips.com is for everyone with an interest in photography. It is intended to help beginners get started in photography, and become so good at it that they turn into advanced amateurs. However, accomplished photographers will also find useful tips and hints here. Our primary objective is to help people to take better photographs.

This great photography information site has been praised by the British Broadcasting Corporation (the BBC), Australian National Radio and in numerous publications around the world. It was selected as a prestigiousHot Site by USAToday. It was featured by the Kim Komando Radio Show as one of its Kool Sites to Visit, and has been extolled in PC World magazine and on PC World.com. Many well-known organizations, internationally and here at home, have had good things to say about PhotographyTips.com.

Photography quotes

1. “ You don’t take a photograph, you make it. - Ansel Adams

Full awareness of what makes a good photo is essential in taking great photographs.

Why would anyone be interested in this photo and what elements can be included or excluded to make it truly great?

2. “ Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

Do you know how many photos you have taken up until now? You will have to take thousands of pictures to reach a point where you can begin to evaluate them objectively. Looking upon your photos as if you were looking at them through someone else’s eyes is a good way to give yourself constructive criticism. Comparing your first photos with your most recent, do you see improvement? Do you remember how you loved some of your first photos – do you still love them or are they now not so good anymore?

3. “ Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph. – Matt Hardy

You often don’t or can’t see beauty in the world until someone shows it to you. Take a look around you just now – even without moving from the computer. Can you see something in a new way, a different way of presenting something common? Just take a look again…

4. “ Nothing happens when you sit at home. I always make it a point to carry a camera with me at all times…I just shoot at what interests me at that moment. – Elliott Erwitt

When the world is your canvas, so to speak, you need your tools with you to capture everything around you. Make a habit of always carrying a camera with you—you will never suffer the regret of wishing you had.

5. “ Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham

Never be fully satisfied with what you’ve done.

Never stop photographing. It is very likely that your best photograph has not yet been captured.

6. “ You’ve got to push yourself harder. You’ve got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You’ve got to take the tools you have and probe deeper. – William Albert Allard

We are always looking for reasons for not taking good pictures. Cartier-Bresson used film camera, same lens, no flash, same shutter speed – he didn’t need the newest digital equipment to take great photos.

We all have access to some subjects that no one else has access to – look at your friends’ hobbies, the workplaces of friends and family, and any place you have access to to find a vision that comes uniquely from your access. Many people would dream of having the same access you have, and you might not have considered how valuable your access is.

7. “ If I saw something in my viewfinder that looked familiar to me, I would do something to shake it up. – Garry Winogrand

How often have you seen a photo that is missing something, thinking, “This is a good photo but I’d make it different somehow.”? Sometimes small things make a big difference. Don’t be afraid to shake things up.

8. “ I always thought good photos were like good jokes. If you have to explain it, it just isn’t that good. – Anonymous

Sometimes it is interesting to hear the story behind the photo and you see the photo in a new light. But in most cases a photo shouldn’t need a story to back it up. It has to speak for itself.

9. “ Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop. – Ansel Adams

Even one of the masters in photography, Ansel Adams, didn’t expect to get more than 12 great photographs each year.

How can anyone expect more?

Take a look at your last year in photos – do you really see 12 photos that stand out from the rest?

10. “It can be a trap of the photographer to think that his or her best pictures were the ones that were hardest to get. – Timothy Allen – On editing photos

Editing photos can often be the most difficult but also the most satisfying part. Sometimes taking a quick look at all the photos and then going away for a while before taking a closer look lends a fresh eye to your viewing. You may see things you did not notice previously. Stepping away from the mass of photos can make certain images stand out in your mind’s eye, leaving a memorable impression that can characterize a good photo.

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

“Look, I'm not an intellectual - I just take pictures.”

“It is one thing to photograph people. It is another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanness.”

“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.”

“I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects. But I make them for myself first and foremost - that is important.”

Social photography

Photography has become a very social pastime with the uprise of digital cameras, the Internet, and photo-sharing websites. Photographers from all around the world are sharing their work, viewing the work of others, and making connections with people they would have otherwise never met. It’s an amazing thing how social networking and photography have almost merged into one big culture:


                        Social photography is a subcategory of photography focusing upon the technology, interaction and activities of individuals who take photographs. Digital cameras, photo sharing websites and the Internet have enabled new tools and methods of social networking while consumer trends such as flashpacking and adventure travel have led to a worldwide increase in socially connected photographers.
The proliferation of easy-to-use open source blogging methods, inexpensively-priced equipment and content management system applications has led to an increase in photography for social change and amateur photojournalism.
Some extensions of social photography include geotagging and online mapping, while online social networking destinations like Facebook have led to an increase in the popularity of technology employing the real-time transfer of images. Where Facebook allows for users to instantly upload a picture from their mobile phone to their profile, there have recently been a number of services sprouting up that allows users to create real time photo streams. Clixtr is one such service allowing their users to create geo-tagged events, then upload photos through their mobile phone and write comments within that event, thus creating a photo stream.
Where Clixtr allows users to upload photos to an event stream through their mobile phone, a wireless digital camera enables photographers to connect to cellular networks or other hotspots to share photos, print wirelessly and save photos directly to an image hosting website. Geographic areas serviced by outdoor WiFi networks permit extended applications for geocaching which can include the use of Global Positioning Systems and smartphones.
Some news networks and online broadcasters encourage viewers to send in photographs of live, breaking and current events, enabling citizen journalists and amateur photographers to participate in the news gathering process.
In 2010, the American Whitetail Authority was featured in the New York Times in a feature promoting the growing popularity of the use of advanced imaging technology to replace real-kill hunting.