Schooleys Mountain Waterfall
This is a photograph of the waterfall at Schooleys Mountain in Long Valley, NJ.
This is a photograph of the waterfall at Schooleys Mountain in Long Valley, NJ.
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Jun, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at Schooleys Mountain in Long Valley, New Jersey. I have never taken a picture like this before, so it was a great experience finding the waterfall and setting up the shot with the correct exposures.Time
I woke up one morning and saw that it was overcast and knew it would be the perfect day to take a long exposure of a waterfall, something I had never done before. So, I decided to go to Schooleys Mountain to photograph the waterfall. Once I got there, I hiked about 30 minutes to get to the waterfall and then decided that the angle would be better if I were across the river. Instead of going back up and around the mountain, I decided to use the faster way to get to the other side - by crossing the river. I wasn't wearing any waterproof boots, just sneakers, but it was worth getting a little wet to get the perfect shot of the beautiful waterfall. Once I determined it was safe to cross the river without any of my camera equipment, I started to bring over my camera equipment a little at a time. First I brought over my backpack that contained two cameras, some lenses, and other accessories such as filters and remote shutters. Then I brought over my tripod so that I could set up my camera to take a long exposure photo. Once everything was on the other side of the river, I found a great place on a smooth rock to set up my tripod and camera with a wide angle lens and a polarizing filter. Then I tried shooting vertically and horizontally with a bunch of different shutter speeds until I finally captured the perfect picture at 10:38:33 am on May 28th, 2018.Lighting
The lighting on this day was perfect! It had just rained the day before and was still overcast in the morning. This allowed me to be able to take a long exposure photograph of the waterfall without overexposing the water.Equipment
This photograph was shot with a Canon EOS 70D and an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens and a 67mm polarizing filter. I used a Sirui tripod to stabilize the camera for the long exposure. I did not use any other equipment.Inspiration
I had always wanted to take a long exposure of a waterfall before, but had never had the chance since I am at college for most of the year and never had the chance to photograph them on other cloudy days over breaks since I always found myself busy and unable to go out to take pictures. When I woke up the day of May 28th, I knew it was the perfect day to photograph a waterfall and I had no plans that day! So I had some breakfast, packed up my gear, and went to the waterfall!Editing
I used Adobe Lightroom to process this RAW file. In Lightroom, I adjusted the exposure and contrast a little bit as well as cropping the photo to achieve the perfect composition.In my camera bag
I always pack my Canon EOS 70D and Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, one standard wide angle lens and a small telephoto lens, and a tripod. I also pack extra camera batteries and memory cards just in case. Recently I have been bringing along my new Canon Speedlite 600EX II-RT just in case I need it for tricky lighting scenarios. Occasionally, I will pack polarizing filters if I think I may need them.Feedback
I recommend overcast days or finding a waterfall that is completely shaded from the sun to capture a long exposure photograph. This allows for proper exposure of the water and the landscape around the waterfall. If it is sunny out, the waterfall will be overexposed and very hard to fix when editing the photograph. Also, if there are spots of sun shining on the waterfall, then the exposure will not be correct for certain parts of the waterfall and some may be underexposed or overexposed.
