Archive Week - Day 2

Waterfalls are extremely hard to photograph. You have to worry about over-exposing the water, under-exposing everything else, etc.

This shot was taken at Silver Creek Falls back in 2003 with my Olympus C-3000Z. I setup my tripod and took several different exposures. When I got back to my computer, I merged two of the photos into this one. One was exposed for the surroundings and one for the water itself. It took about an hour to do, but the result was one photo of a waterfall that isn't bad.

Looking back on it I would try numerous things different. First, the distortion in the corners wouldn't be there because my equipment is much better now. Second, the tree in the upper right doesn't give enough of a forground, I'd look for something better.

Anyway, it's a fair shot of a waterfall. It's the best I have done. But, I haven't photographed waterfalls much at all since then. Part of the reason is I no longer have a tripod that works with my camera. My Canon D30 with my 17-40mm or my 75-300mm is just way too heavy for my Wal-Mart special $30 tripod. My camera slowly bends forward, making my tripod useless. I should invest in a nice one, but my priorities are elsewhere. My next camera purchase will be a flash unit. I am borrowing my dad's currently when I need to, but it would be very nice if I had a flash in my bag all the time.

Well, I think tomorrow will be a panoramic shot...but I haven't decided for sure...