Do all good waterfalls share a common natural trait?

[Jim Galli]

When you come across a waterfall, how do you decide if it’s worth your time as a large format photographer?

That is, which of its natural traits help you decide whether or not to set-up your gear, and begin the process of composition?

For example, does the height or angle of its fall take priority for you? Or is it the speed or volume of the current? Does the viewpoint matter most? Maybe it’s the type of light (I often find this problematic), the transparency or reflective quality of the water, what the water is hitting, the force of the strike, or the entire fall’s relationship w/ the surrounding landscape or sky?

And here’s what I’m most curious about – if you’ve created many images of many waterfalls, have you discovered the best ones usually share a common natural element, or call for the same LF tools, time and again?

Do you just like to hear yourself talk?

[ImSoNegative]

for me its about the angle of view, I like to use longer lenses now when shooting falls, on 4x5 210mm and above

[Ken Lee]

have you discovered the best ones usually share a common natural element?

Definitely!

[Vaughn]

Do you just like to hear yourself talk?

I believe she appreciates what other people think about when they are creating. For s/he no fool who gives what s/he cannot keep..to gain that which s/he cannot lose. In this case, knowledge and understanding.


Ken -- every photograph has the photographer in it!

[Heroique]

Typically what I look for is personality. All waterfalls have their own personalities, and I look for one that engages me on some level. Some do, some don't. I really can't explain it better than that.

Interesting, I’m also engaged by “personality” in some landscapes, and when it happens, it’s difficult to explain indeed. Sometimes w/ waterfalls, but not all the time. A specific place where it happens without fail is Norris Geyser Basin (in Yellowstone NP). Each geyser, mudpot, fumarole, etc., no matter how big or small, always strikes me as a “personality.” Some invite LF attention, some spurn it. Maybe it’s a matter of projection, as the psychologists say, but it seems they all should have a personal name to match their behavior and attitude toward the LF photographer.

Do you just like to hear yourself talk?

Hmm, curious why you just want to hear yourself talk and not participate. ;^)

…the creamy look of water usually has a nicer look than frozen water. Though of course some times freezing the water also works.

How much creaminess would be a good thread topic. From a touch of cream to a healthy serving of mayonnaise. Most of my waterfalls have at least a touch of cream or more. But here’s one of the few waterfalls where I wanted only a crystalline appearance, like a vein of diamonds in the rock. This is a snow-melt waterfall in the North Cascades, flowing over granite, down into an abyss.

Tachi 4x5
Schneider XL 110mm/5.6
TMax-100 (in TMax rs)
Epson 4990/Epson Scan

[Brian Sims]

Do you just like to hear yourself talk?

Jim, are you and Heroique married?

[Robert Langham]

Water + gravity. Now asking if all moving photographs of waterfalls have a common natural trait....that might get us some where.

[Eric James]

Most of my waterfalls were in such intimate, back-country places that I have had to use a 20mm lens on my trusty Nikon. However, the waterfall attached here struck me as a primal force, something worthy of LF effort. I camped here for a couple of days and hope to return sometime when the afternoon sun actually comes into the canyon. (Palouse Falls, Eastern Washington, February 2013)
Attachment 100076

I photographed at Palouse Falls State Park last week - the light was nice but the fall volume was ~20% of what you show here. I think May would strike a nice balance between light and water volume, at least that's when I plan to return. There's a trail that descends talus to the lower river level offering less common compositions.

[Heroique]

I photographed at Palouse Falls State Park last week...

Eric, I hope you eventually post some of those shots! Given all the viewpoints, ever-changing light, and variable water flow, Palouse Falls would be an ideal subject for a journal-thread, much like Robert’s on Shiprock. BTW, the narrow-twisting-rolling Hwy 261, which takes you there, is incredibly fun to drive, and scenic too. It eventually crosses the Snake River just a few miles down the road from the turn-off to Palouse Falls. A mesmerizing ride. Just for fun, I checked the Lewis & Clark Journals since they traveled down the Snake here (1805), and passed the Palouse River’s mouth. But there’s no mention of the nearby falls. I presume the natives, frequently met in this region, didn’t bother to mention it to them, or we would have heard about it, or seen it on the maps they created.

[hoffner]

Do you just like to hear yourself talk?

+ 1.
Thanks Jim. It needed to be said.