Big Spring Creek Falls-1

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State contains many waterfalls that are a bit off of the beaten path and that usually are not very well know. This waterfall, Big Spring Creek Falls, is just off of FR 23 before the junction with FR 90. Big Spring Creek Falls consists of three or more 10 foot tiers of falls along Big Spring Creek. This image is of the middle tier of the falls. I photographed Big Spring Creek Falls on June 26 of 2012 while on a scouting trip to check out the progress of the spring snow melt farther up FR 23 towards Tahklahk Lake. Unfortunately, I was stopped by snow only a couple of miles farther up the road. Spring can come late above 3,000 feet in the Pacific Northwest. It is the opportunity to go from the Summer season down along the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area to early Spring higher up in the mountains that makes photographing here so interesting and challenging.

I used my Canon 5D MKII with my Canon TS-E24mm. The image is an exposure blend to retain shadow detail in the falls overhang and to manage the detail in the very bright water. I used ISO 400 in order to create just the right amount of flow in the water. The temperature near the falls was at least 10 - 15 degrees cooler than back by the road.