Posted by Mike Stovall on June 8, 2007 at 12:35 PM
When the clouds rolled in Wednesday, it got me thinking about waterfalls. I captured this shot of an icon, stitched from four images.
In my opinion, this is the granddaddy of Oregon waterfalls. What makes it so unique is that the columnar basalt face of the cliff is not undercut, like those underneath most of the iconic oregon cataracts, but slightly tilted back from base to top. As a result, the cascade spreads out into numerous splashing rivulets.
It's about as blustery here as it gets. Sheets of spray come off the falls, plus it was raining from overhead. In the second it took to get off a shot, the lens was already covered with droplets again.
Canon 5D
70-200 f/4L
.3 seconds
ISO 200
Polarizer
Tripod
Safeway plastic shopping bag
Elastic band from my head lamp
Microfiber Cloth
Umbrella
Pocket Warmers
sweet shot! my only nit, is I want to see just a tad more at the top of the frame... for some reason it just feels too chopped-off... but even as-is, I really like it.
Posted by Mike Stovall on June 8, 2007 at 12:59 PM
Yeah, I thought so too. Unfortunately, I wasn't perfectly aligned all the way through the camera rotations and I ended up having to crop off more than I intended at the top after stitching. I'll reshoot this once I've upgraded to better equipment for shooting panos (I don't have any leveling gear or even a panning motion on my Gitzo 1177 ball head--it's totally free form. BUT it is very light.)
I've seen similar comps of these falls and I think it works fine. Maybe a litle chopped off but not too bad. It sounds like you had a few elements to battle. That spray can get pretty irritating, can't it?
I'm finding that if I want taller panos I have to shoot with the camera held vertical. You have to take more photos but the new Photomerge in PS3 is so good that it really doesn't matter.
I like this shot, Mike. I could easily have a bunch of thin-ish panos like this one a wall.
The cascades are beautifully done here. I could 2nd guess the comp, but you've described your limitations. Love the equipment list. I'll bet that Safeway bag was worth more than its weight in gold!
Posted by Luke Tingley on June 10, 2007 at 9:46 AM
What falls are these?
Posted by Mike Stovall on June 10, 2007 at 10:11 PM
The spray used to be irritating, but I'm loving those plastic shopping bags and a small compact umbrella for wet weather shooting. I'll give the vertical orientation a shot, thanks for the tip, Mark.
Luke, I might as well publish it the name, since it's so well known. It's Proxy Falls and I think it will be better shooting once the flow dies down a little bit. I had to process this so contrasty to minimize the mist and haze in the air. But what did you think of the shot?
Appreciation to all for commenting.
Posted by Tom Kloster on June 11, 2007 at 12:40 AM
I like this compostion, Mike - I can understand the comments about wanting to see more, but I like how this frames the log and horizontal extent of the falls. It could be very useful as a stock photo for border or banner use. I'm amazed at the amount of water - I've only been up there in mid-summer, and the volume was about half of what is seen here. Wow! No wonder you needed storm gear..!
Tom
Posted by Luke Tingley on June 11, 2007 at 12:51 AM
Mike,
Thanks for the info. I really like the shot. I agree with the others, in that I wouldn't mind seeing a little more towards the top, especially the top left. But I still think it works well.
I just recently got back from my first trip to Oregon. Unfortunately I ran out of time and didn't make it down to Proxy Falls, after seeing this shot it makes me really, really regret not making it there. Definitely have it high on my list for my next trip.
Discussion
10 repliesIn my opinion, this is the granddaddy of Oregon waterfalls. What makes it so unique is that the columnar basalt face of the cliff is not undercut, like those underneath most of the iconic oregon cataracts, but slightly tilted back from base to top. As a result, the cascade spreads out into numerous splashing rivulets.
It's about as blustery here as it gets. Sheets of spray come off the falls, plus it was raining from overhead. In the second it took to get off a shot, the lens was already covered with droplets again.
Canon 5D
70-200 f/4L
.3 seconds
ISO 200
Polarizer
Tripod
Safeway plastic shopping bag
Elastic band from my head lamp
Microfiber Cloth
Umbrella
Pocket Warmers
I like this shot, Mike. I could easily have a bunch of thin-ish panos like this one a wall.
Luke, I might as well publish it the name, since it's so well known. It's Proxy Falls and I think it will be better shooting once the flow dies down a little bit. I had to process this so contrasty to minimize the mist and haze in the air. But what did you think of the shot?
Appreciation to all for commenting.
Tom
Thanks for the info. I really like the shot. I agree with the others, in that I wouldn't mind seeing a little more towards the top, especially the top left. But I still think it works well.
I just recently got back from my first trip to Oregon. Unfortunately I ran out of time and didn't make it down to Proxy Falls, after seeing this shot it makes me really, really regret not making it there. Definitely have it high on my list for my next trip.