In early October I spend a few weeks in Colorado. I timed my visit for fall colors. I had a hint to visit this creek in the Silverton area to find some waterfalls. I was thrilled with what I found, a series of small falls. I came back several times over a few days. On my first visit I didn’t realize there were so many falls. They were spread out on the creek with only use trails between them. I counted five distinct falls and named them with numbers to help me keep track. To view the complete collection of this creek and waterfalls, click here.
FIRST FALLS The lowest falls was a crack in the rock with a log jammed in the falls.
First Falls Bottom of the Glen – This is First Falls with Second Falls above it.
SECOND FALLS I thought Second Falls was the most photogenic and a young couple with a photographer thought the same.
Second FallsGiant and Mini Falls – another view of Second FallsPool at Second Falls
THIRD FALLS Third Falls was a messy log jam and I mainly include it as a reference..
Log Jam at Third FallsTop of Second Falls – Third Falls ended at the top of Second Falls This is the view looking over the edge of Second Falls. It was a precarious position and I had to move slowly and deliberately while peering over the edge with camera and tripod.
FOURTH FALLS These falls seem to be formed by a partially collapsed manmade dam.
Fourth FallsFourth and Ferns
FIFTH FALLS Fifth Falls were in a dark part of the canyon.
Fifth Falls – This was 20 second exposure to smooth the water.Fifth from Above – The trail down to the bottom of these falls required a little gymnastics and careful footing.
To view the complete collection of this creek and waterfalls, click here.
I recently returned from a 3-week photo trip to Oregon and the Northern California redwoods. My main objective in Oregon was photographing waterfalls, but I found many beautiful scenes along the way. I visited two areas in Oregon. The first was the Umpqua National Forest along highway 138 where there are several waterfalls in close proximity.
Many of the waterfalls were impressive, but challenging to shoot. That was the case with Watson Falls. It was overcast and a cold, windy spray was coming off the falls. My camera and I were getting soaked. (I had a rain jacket, but no rain pants.) It was difficult to keep water off my lens long enough to get a shot. I would have liked to climb down closer to the base of the falls, but that would have been wetter, colder, and windier!
Watson Falls 16mm, 1/3 sec at f/16, ISO 50 with a polarizing filter
After a few disappointing shots, I went back down the trail to some cascades that I had passed on the way up. This turned out to be my favorite area of this part of my trip. I enjoyed creating small scenes within sections of the cascades. I also experimented with shutter speeds to vary the texture of the water. I took the shot below as the sun was emerging from the morning overcast. What caught my attention was the way the warm light reflected on the rocks.
Mossy Cascade – This is the left side of the cascades. 35mm, 1/3 sec at f/7.1, ISO 50Water and Stone 30mm, 1/3 sec at f/13, ISO 100
The shot below is the full cascade, taken just before leaving this area. In all, I spent about an hour composing different shots at these cascades and loving it – the zen of photography!
Cascades Below the Falls 16mm, 0.5 sec at f/14, ISO 64
My other favorite shots came on a day when I hiked a few miles on the North Umpqua River Trail. It was a sunny day. When the sun is out in the forest, the sunlight creates bright spots that can be distracting in photos. The solution is to focus on small scenes that either are fully shaded or take advantage of the sun in other ways. This first shot below was taken in shade. I decided to go with a shallow depth of field to blur the background.
Flower along the Trail 105mm, 1/250 sec at f/4.0, ISO 640
The maple leaves below were backlit by the sun which makes them appear to glow. It was probably a little windy so I used a fast shutter speed.
Maple Leaves Light 104mm, 1/1000 sec at f/5.0, ISO 640
I visited several other waterfalls over three days, but I found it difficult to create compelling compositions due to one thing or another.
Emerging from the Canyon 32mm, 1 sec at f/10, ISO 100 The challenge of finding a great composition at this waterfall was being constrained to the viewing platform. I would have liked to climb down the steep embankment to the bottom of the canyon, but a ranger had previously told me that area is off limits. Whitehorse Falls 35mm, 2 sec at f/16, ISO 100Clearwater Falls 37 mm, 1.3 sec at f/16, ISO 100 The challenge of these falls was the chaos created by the fallen logs.
I will write about the other area I visited, Silver Falls State Park, in my next entry.
Lawrence Pallant Photography 