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Shifen waterfall in Taiwan.
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Shifen Waterfall in Taiwan. It's Taiwan's widest waterfall and it's located about 1 hour from Taipei City just past the town of Pingxi, which is famous for it sky lanterns. There is a small park dedicated to this waterfall and currently, the admission is free.Time
I took this picture around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The waterfall is almost completely surrounded by tall trees. So by this time, it wasn't receiving direct sunlight which helped add to the image. This time of day the fall is usually pretty crowded, however, I got lucky and was able to have several minutes to adjust and get the right shot.Lighting
I really wanted the focus of this image to be on the water. The way it dropped it over the different layers of rock really caught my attention and I wanted to focus on that. The lighting was pretty good for this because the area around the fall was much darker than the water naturally.Equipment
I shot this on a Sony A6000 with a Sigma Art 30mm 2.8 lens with an ND32 filter sitting on my MeFoto Backpacker tripod. I can't say enough about this camera and lens. Together they fit in my jacket pocket and they produce wonderful images.Inspiration
Shifen Waterfall was actually just a pit stop. I was actually camping and taking some pictures of a nearby waterfall and figured I would just swing by and check it out because it's famous here in Taiwan. It's usually very crowded so I didn't really expect to get anything good. I was surprised when I arrived because the crowd was manageable and the lighting was really good. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was going to be a good shot.Editing
I used Lightroom to process this image. I used graduated filters to darken the area around the waterfall. Then I used the brush tool to bring back some of the details in the rocks. Then I used the dehaze tool which works great for cleaning up the mist surrounding the area.In my camera bag
Since most of my photography is done on the go, I try to keep it light. I always have my Sony A6000, Sigma 30mm f2.8, Samyang 12mm 2.0 and my MeFoto Backpacker tripod. I have recently added a DJI Mavic to my kit. I keep some extra cards, filters, and cleaning tools also. IfFeedback
The key to capturing images of water like this is to have the ND Filter. You need it to darken the image enough to use a slow shutter speed to add this effect to the moving water. It can also be done at night if you have a really bright light and can get close enough to the water. You just set the camera shutter to around 20 seconds and paint the waterfall in using the spotlight. This method is more difficult, and it doesn't usually turn out as good.