The Rain Clouds Do Have Silver Linings!

By Kevin Lane

You may have heard Kelley and I talk about the weather a lot on our recent podcast shows, as we have experienced more rain this winter than in any in recent memory. And it wasn't just drizzle, either. The rain was steady, and there were a number of downpours that resulted in some flooding in northwest Georgia as well. A numbers of records were broken by the relentless precipitation that covered at least twenty of February's twenty-eight days. And what really got annoying was that the days when there was a break in the rain were never on the weekend, which for me is the best time to do some photography. I was seeing my goal of staying active this winter and making some nice winter sky photographs slip away with each rainy Saturday and Sunday.

However, my luck changed finally toward the end of February and into March with some rainless Saturdays and Sundays, and my wife, Debbie, and I were able to get out and do some hiking in northwest Georgia and southeast Tennessee. Without any plan or design, we somehow seemed to gravitate toward waterfalls, which are plentiful here and often quite picturesque. Some of them were waterfalls we had visited before and were quite familiar to us. Others, such as Greeter Falls and Boardwalk Falls in Tennessee, were new to us. With ever waterfall we visited, however, we discovered that all these rain clouds we have endured have silver linings. They were all beyond spectacular with the sheer volume, sight, sound and power of water. Every single waterfall was a photographer's dream, and I shot quite a bit of film with them as my subjects, trying to capture their beauty, majesty, and mood with each frame.

I am not a professional photographer by any means, but I do have a few suggestions for those of you who like to photograph waterfalls:

First, cloudy days are best for waterfall photography. I was fortunate that the dry weekend days that finally came were still cloudy, and cloudy days allow you to control contrast. Obviously, the color of a waterfall is white, and you want to still retain detail in the falling water while not losing the detail in the surrounding rocks or trees. Also, cloudy days reduce the problem of sun angle, as you cannot change the direction a waterfall faces relative to the sun (except by changing the time of day you shoot it, of course).

Second, shoot slow film. Shooting slow film allows you to slow down your shutter speed, which allows more water to pass during your exposure. This blurred motion effect of moving water looks great and can make any waterfall look better than it actually did in person. I like 64 or 100 ISO films like Svema FN64 or Kosmo Foto Mono (Fomopan 100), but Ilford and Kodak both have very popular low speed b&w films. If I were to to shoot waterfalls on color film, my choice would be Kodak Ektar 100 for color negatives and Kodak's recently reintroduced Ektachrome E100 for color slides.

Third, consider using a tripod. Now, I just gave you advice that I don't follow as often asI should, but the truth is that there is nothing that will improve the sharpness of your photos more than using a tripod. Nothing. No, it's not very convenient to carry a tripod with you and you hike a difficult trail in search of a waterfall to photograph, but if you are serious about making good images on slow speed film with longer shutter speeds, a tripod is essential. Get one, keep it in the car, put a strap on it so you can carry it on your shoulder, and use it. Your photographs will be better for it, and so will mine.

Fourth, keep a wide angle lens handy. If you are using a camera with interchangeable lenses, a wide angle can help when you don't have enough room to get the waterfall shot you want. The effect of a wide angle lens is to move you backward from your subject, and in tight canyons and gulches, using a wide angle lens may be your only choice.

Fifth, choose color or b&w accordingly. For example, all the waterfalls I have photographed in the last couple of weeks have been on b&w film, because in the winter there aren't many colors to capture. However, when I visit the same waterfalls in the spring, the rhododendron and mountain laurel trees will be blooming, and color will be everywhere. The same goes for the autumn when the turning leaves provide a pallet of many colors. Of course, b&w photographs in the spring and autumn can look great as well. It comes down to a matter of taste in the end.

Finally, look for details. When I get to an impressive waterfall, I get so excited about capturing the entire scene in one frame that I forget to look for details that could fill a frame on their own. This could be when a telephoto lens can be used to isolate things like a certain spray or mist pattern or water rushing over a certain rock. Walk around the scene and get to know the waterfall on a deeper level. Those detail shots can become cherished souvenirs that most people miss when they visit.

Waterfalls are some of nature's most amazing displays of beauty and power, and photographing them can be both fun and rewarding. Having your waterfall photographs on display in your home will not only remind you of the fun you had visiting them, but also they will be great conversation starters for visitors who undoubtedly will ask about them and how you captured them. It truly is satisfying when others find happiness in your hobby.

Upper Greeter Falls, near Altamont, Tennessee.

Lower Greeter Falls.

Firescald Creek, below Greeter Falls.

Temporary Waterfall, Sitton's Gulch, Cloudland Canyon State Park. Except for the
excess amount of rain this winter, this waterfall would not ever be visible.

Cherokee Fall, Cloudland Canyon State Park, Lookout Man, Georgia. The extreme
volume of water coming over the falls made for more mist than I have ever seen here.

Hemlock Falls, Cloudland Canyon State Park, Lookout Man, Georgia.

This culvert lies underneath a railroad near Ringgold, Georgia that was first built
before the Civil War. The famous Great Locomotive Chase ran right over this spot
in 1862.