Awesome photographer and ViewBug member jamesrushforth's passion for climbing, mountaineering, exploring and photography has lead him to some stunning locations and situations! jamesrushforth shares the following amazing tips on how to achieve a great moving water photo.

1) Don’t be afraid to get ‘down and dirty’ (not like that) with the stream. Equally, consider getting into the stream itself with your tripod (if it’s safe to do so) and experiment with some unusual perspectives. If it’s not safe to do so try a big zoom and some close up shots to capture the detail.

2) A UV filter is a good idea if it’s a powerful stream / waterfall. It is far preferable to be wiping the spray off this as opposed to your expensive lens glass. A chamois leather or similar material is useful for cleaning away the droplets.

3) Have a think about how you want the light to interact with your scene. Generally speaking an overcast day or early evening is great for streams as it provides a softer light reducing the contrast between the shadows and highlights associated with direct sunlight. It also allows for longer exposures so you can experiment with the amount of water blur. However there are times when having direct light is advantageous. For example direct light on waterfalls when the sun is low in the sky often produces a lovely little rainbow if there is enough spray coming off the falls.

- Learn The Tricks Behind This Amazing Shot -

- Framing -

What are you trying to capture/say?
As soon as I discovered this particular stream I was immediately excited as not only was it a pretty stream surrounded by lovely lush vegetation, it also had a series of beautiful little falls falling over the side due to heavy rainfall. I was taken with the natural unspoiled beauty of the location and this is what I wanted to convey to the viewer in the final photo.

How do you know if it’s visually interesting?
I love streams, there’s something relaxing about them. However they’re often best shot when the light is quite flat; this is unusual in itself as light and its interaction with the surrounding environment is central to mastering photography. Thus if you remove any dramatic lighting you need a stream or waterfall which is particularly visually appealing. This merger of several small tributaries provides something a little unusual, and that is what I was trying to capture.

Are you thinking about perspective?
Very much so, I wanted the waterfalls to be the central focus of the shot, but I also wanted to show the main stream merging with the waterfalls.

- Lighting -

Are you using tripod?
I used a Gitzo Series 3 tripod with a Induro BHL1 Ball Head for this shot as I wanted to soften and convey the movement of the water with a longer exposure than I would have been able to hand hold for.

Are you using flash?
I didn’t use a flash for this shot as there was adequate lighting already.

What time of the day was it shot?
This was shot in early evening with an overcast sky; this provided a nice uniform light over the whole scene.

What aperture settings are you using?
This was taken at F18 in order to get as much of the scene properly in focus as possible. The small aperture also allowed me to use a slower shutter speed, giving that ‘moving water’ effect. I wanted to avoid using a ND filter as this was shot with the Nikon 14-24mm which doesn’t take screw in filters. I generally use the Lucroit system in conjunction with Formatt Hitech filters for this lens but the spray coming off the falls would quickly mist up the large filter surface area (165mm x 165mm). I also prefer not using filters if it can be avoided as the final image is usually sharper without (one less piece of glass in the way can only be a good thing right?).

- Subject - 

Are you looking for a unique subject?
I think every photographer strives to find a unique subject, or at least to represent a subject in a different or unique way. In this particular case heavy rainfall had increased the number of small falls providing a perfect opportunity for an eye catching shot. The stream itself is located in a remote environment, well away from the usual tourist areas in the Dolomites resulting in it been rarely frequented and seldom photographed.

Was the photo planned?
Not at all, I stumbled on it quite by accident whilst descending from a climb I’d been taking photos on. I’ve since been back on several occasions as it’s such a lovely spot. Just the other day I returned to photo the smaller stream forming the waterfall with the recent ice that winter has brought: https://www.viewbug.com/photo/42492481

How are you choosing to stay close or far from the subject?
In this case the surrounding terrain largely dictated where to take the shot from. Thick vegetation prevents a shot from any sort of distance forcing you to get close. This was convenient as personally I always prefer up close and personal stream photos, then you get all the lovely ripple, pool, vegetation and stream bed detail.

What is your mindset when it comes to POV?
Generally speaking I like a point of view that’s slightly unusual, be it close to the ground or high up. This is particularly true with a wide angle lens as you can create some very striking perspectives with some gentle lens distortion abuse, especially when close up. In this case I went for a low to the ground pov to really ‘get in the face’ of the stream, catching all those nice close up details. I also took the shot at 14mm on a full frame which is very wide, if you don’t get nice and close everything just looks tiny and the drama is lost. I didn’t want to go too low however as I wanted to capture the waterfall hitting the stream below, any lower and it would have been obscured behind the rock.

- Composition -

Are you thinking of rule of thirds/how?
Whilst I think it’s important for photographers to not get to hung up on the rule of thirds all of the time in this case I wanted the waterfall to draw the eye and positioned it accordingly.

Are you thinking of symmetry?
Not to a huge extent in this photo, though the greens in the top and bottom left provide nice symmetry.

Are you thinking of reflections?
Some stream shots lend themselves to reflections, particularly if there’s a pool and you can create some nice symmetry. At other times it’s nice to see the detail on the stream bed, without any reflections. A polarising filter will reduce reflections if you wish to capture stream bed detail, or simply minimise the number of subject distractions. For this shot the water was too high and moving too fast to provide any nice reflections.

Are you paying attention on the subject only or also background and why?
I think this image works because the stream flowing from left to right leads your eyes to the main subject - the waterfall. The stream itself is very aesthetic in its own right and I wanted it to be as much a part of the photo as the four waterfalls.

Are you thinking of the angle? why did you choose this angle?
Whilst you can produce some very striking shots using an off kilter angle in this shot I opted for a traditional 180 degree landscape shot, levelled using the in camera digital spirit level.

- Processing -

How did you choose B&W vs color?
I think this was an easy choice for me. I really like the lush greens of the vegetation found in and around mountain forest streams, particularly on the moss of the waterfalls. I also think black and white works best with dramatic lighting, whereas the lighting in this image is uniform.

Did you do any post-processing? if so, what?
This image required relatively little post processing. I sharpened the rocks and trees whilst leaving the water and moss softer. I then reduced the shadows under the waterfall to allow the detail of the rock to be displayed.

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