Magical waterfall
A night hike out to a waterfall resulted in this image
A night hike out to a waterfall resulted in this image
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Mar, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I went with my friend on a night hike to a waterfall just under an hour's drive north of Brisbane, Australia. He had told me about this waterfall and had often visited during the day, but had never actually taken a photo of it. It was a 20 minute trek from the carpark to the waterfall through a forest and across a couple of creeks. In hindsight it was probably a very dangerous activity to do, especially in the dark of the night!Time
This picture was taken at 10:39pm. We had aimed to get to the area around sunset to try and scope the place out a bit, but it was already dark by the time we had arrived at the carpark. At least the moon was bright so it wasn't completely pitch black.Lighting
The lighting was actually very difficult to get right! We had it set up so that one person worked the camera and the other person was lighting up the waterfall with a torch (I can't remember what brand the torch was, but it was EXTREMELY bright). It took many trials getting the exposure right, as we were trying to get the water exposed evenly as well as getting the background lit up enough. Not to mention that the waterfall was deafening so any communication was impossible!Equipment
This picture was taken with a Nikon D600 with a 24-70mm 2.8 Tamron attached. I'd set it at f7.1, ISO 1100 and an exposure time of 15 seconds at a focal range of 24mm. I had tried it with my 14mm lens but it just didn't look right. Naturally, a tripod and remote trigger were used due to the long exposure.Inspiration
I had always wanted to take long exposure photos of waterfalls but I didn't have any filters to get the exposure settings right. I was also just getting into light painting in landscapes shots, so this was a good test. Additionally, I'm nocturnal so all my productivity happens after the sun goes down - might as well take some photos while I'm at it.Editing
This is actually the result of two exposures. One was actually good enough to use by itself, but in another photo the water was better exposed so I blended it in. The background was also a bit shadowy as the moon was bright that night, so I darkened it so as to not be distracting.In my camera bag
I shoot with a Nikon D600 with a 24-70mm 2.8 Tamron always attached. I never travel without my 50mm 1.8 Nikon and my 14mm 2.8 Samyang - these are just perfect for street and landscape photography and they're so small too, so there's no excuse! I also carry around a 70-200mm 2.8 Tamron which I use a lot in concert and gig photography. For my landscape shots, I ALWAYS carry a tripod and a remote trigger, these are absolutely essential for those long exposure shots. I've also started to use a Metz 48 AF-1 for event photography and carry around wireless triggers for some off-camera action. I still prefer to work with natural light wherever possible.Feedback
Sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone to capture a good image. I had seen a lot of photos of this same waterfall during the day but never at night, so this is a bit of a refreshing image which differs from the norm. Night photography is my favourite type, because you get to see the world in a different way that most people would never manage to see. You can also get some interesting lighting effects at night, because you have more control over what you want to see. It's a good idea to just go to somewhere and spend the whole night out, you never know what kinds of shots you'll bring home with you!
