Great Falls of Paterson Long Exposure
About a 30 second exposure of the swirls of water and foam in the foreground made this image really interesting!
About a 30 second exposure of the swirls of water and foam in the foreground made this image really interesting!
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Jan, 2016Views
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surrey_george
February 06, 2016
This has to be one of the best examples of long exposure water photos I've seen. May I ask what NDF you used on the shot?
m11m
February 07, 2016
Hi George, I thought I replied to you yesterday but the coment isn't here. Anyway, thank you so much for the kind words, I used a 4x4 10 stop ND made by Lee. There's a cheaper one made by, I forget, but it creates a green cast to your images which is really hard to get out in RAW.
carolsimmons_5489
February 06, 2016
Another beautiful capture ! I have seen those falls but your image makes them look better then they really are . You were standing in the right spot to do them justice. Well done !
Cheers,
Carol
Cheers,
Carol
m11m
February 07, 2016
Thank you Carol! I was lucky to have the water be foamy so it just swirled around alot, so I said to myself that might result in an interesting long exposure, and it did. Thank you again!
MemoriesbyDotty
February 06, 2016
U created a place which shows complete tranquility...sooo inviting ...well done.
m11m
February 07, 2016
Thank you, those specific words mean a lot to me, conveying tranquility in a crazy world is my goal with my photography.
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m11m
February 07, 2016
Thank you Steve, although I have tried to do HDR with long exposures, I doubtI tried that heere it was a while ago, maybe I did, but generally 30 second exposures and HDR are a tough thing, not impossible, but the results in my eperience aren't always great, so, short answer, I forget if I did or not on this one. Thanks again!
ElizabethAPhotography
February 08, 2016
That is just so gorgeous. I really like the swirling of the water.
ewynkoop
February 09, 2016
I want to be there . . . to feel the lift and movement . . . to experience the sense of calm . . . to be carried away in the power of the moment . . . and to breathe in the cool, damp air. Thank you.
fracolon
February 10, 2016
Being from Patterson and having photograph from this same location makes me want to go back and try something different beautiful work beautiful capture great memories thank you
lionelkavanagh
March 06, 2016
Love your work Michael. You certainly have some awesome images in your collection. Especially love this image.
fracolon
August 16, 2016
Michael Love it when folks take, then makes great photos of the falls of my childhood stomping grounds...thank you...
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Great Falls of Paterson is actually a National Historic Site operated by the NPS (National Park Service), and yet it is right in the middle of the city of Paterson, New Jersey. It is quite interesting to see Park Rangers so far away from the usual places you'd expect to see them. Alas, here they are, watching over this historic landmark, one of the largest waterfalls on the East Coast and the story goes that Alexander Hamilton himself, upon seeing the falls, set in motion events that would make Paterson one of, if not the first American Industrial city in the late 1700's. In fact, behind me where I am shooting, there is a statue of Hamilton watching over the falls.Time
The photo was taken mid-morning on a cloudy day sometime before winter and after fall since you see no leaves on the trees but no snow on the ground. This sun is to my back but it played little role in the outcome of the scene except for offering some nice diffused, even light.Lighting
In short, I wanted to convey something more than just what the falls were, i.e., water falling from a higher point to another with rocks around it; I wanted to convey that this is a powerful and energetic place, the crashing of water creating constant and brilliant motion, the clouds moving above head fast enough to create streaks, all lend credence to the idea that this is not just a stagnant scene, this place is alive. I think without paying attention to my settings, this easily could have been a very dull or worse, an unusable photograph. It's a delicate balancing act in Long Exposure photography between shutter and f-stop, and while there are apps and charts you can look at to guide you, I always found that either they aren't very accurate, and becoming familiar with the settings in unison with how long an exposure you actually want is key to creating a usable image. With digital, do not be deterred, since trial and error is easily viewable on the back of your screen in near real time, but after practice you'll be able to cut a lot of that out and have less trials, less errors, and more fun and successes with LE.Equipment
This shot was from circa 2012 when I was using a Canon 5D Mark 2, but the "special" thing about this photo is the use of the 10-Stop ND to really slow down the amount of light hitting the sensor, allowing for a very long exposure. This exposure here may have been at least 30 seconds, no HDR or anything special in post beyond the normal. What draws people to this photograph is, indeed, the swirls in the water. To the naked eye (in real time), you see this foam slowly coming from the waterfall, being sucked into the power station to the left, all right before you. But, by using a 10-Stop ND filter, you significantly slow down time and allow for the foam to become streaks over time. Also special to this photograph was the use of the often ridiculed for being excessive 12-foot tripod I lug around, simply because I am shooting at the edge of the water where there is a 10-foot chain link fence protecting visitors from falling in. With the aid of a step ladder which I also lug around, I was able to get slightly above that chain link fence and capture this image.Inspiration
I had been visiting this waterfall for years, and, I must say, I usually only got a "snapshot" of sorts, or closeups of the falls, or on a rare occasion a rainbow created by the sun hitting the mist from the falls, but on this day, the swirls in the water were just remarkable and I knew that using the ND filter was going to play a huge role in making the shot more interesting. Years have gone by and I've returned to it quite often when possible, and recreating this exact shot seems impossible, for me at least, sometimes nature just provides you with the optimal conditions and you're lucky enough to be there with a camera to capture it.Editing
In all honesty, this shot is almost straight out of the camera, save for a few minor and basic enhancements to the sky, burning in the corners, lightening up the falls and the swirls a bit to lead the eye to the subject (the falls), very little was done. I remember cleaning up errant objects which were distracting to the eye with the healing brush, but there was very minimal work done to this photo as you see it.In my camera bag
These days I have a Canon 5DSR, 3 lenses, 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8, 85mm 1.2, a cam ranger with Ipad, Promote Control, Vello Wireless Control, an assortment of filters, Lee Big Stopper, Singh-Ray Color Combo filter, Uv Filters on all lenses for protection most of all, my Sekonic Light Meter and not much else. After hiking for thousands of miles in my life and each time realizing even a few ounces can make a difference in the energy you expend getting to your destination, I like to travel as light as possible.Feedback
This goes for long exposures: One piece of advice can be to try and sharpen your skills to anticipate what the scene will look from the moment you click, one second after, 10 seconds after, up to 30 seconds, or even 60 seconds after. You can of course just shoot using trial and error, which is how I began, but once you use the 10Stop ND (Big Stopper) for a while, you get a sense of what it will do to a scene, especially a scene with motion in it. In this case, the clouds and the water. Coming upon a scene which you study and are able to foresee to some level what will occur in your minds eye needs to come natural and, kudos to those who can without practice, but for me it took quite some time to be able to understand the power and elegance of long exposure, but most of all, how to harness that power and use the technique to the benefit of the image you are creating.
