WATERFALL PHOTOGRAPHY - the importance of reflected light

Shooting waterfalls is so much fun. In this video I share some tips on how I photography waterfalls and how I use a polariser.
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#photography #waterfalls

[@ericoconnor5416]

“Right, so I’m gunna go risk my life and see if I can get a little bit closer.” That’s what it’s all about right there Nigel. Risk it for the biscuit. Something I repeat to myself when I’m shooting waterfalls is- “to get the shot, you must go where others will not.” Within reason of course.

[@govindnair20]

I love how you show the camera's POV because it's a lot easier to learn something if we're both looking at the same thing. If another camera was used for video, then yeah your points are still valid, but I guess I'm not imaginative enough to visualize what you mean. Really REALLY appreciate it mate...

[@jimowens8105]

"Dry rocks suck" was a comment by Moose Peterson many years ago, and the simple solution is to carry a light bucket or foldable dog bowl and splash some water on the rocks. Great vid and instructional observations, thanks.

[@InfiniteTechServices]

great idea thanks

[@meanderingyogi6562]

Not sure how well you remember your start up days but, for those of us who are just getting going thanks a ton my friend! Your very appreciated..

[@pamelahooper7851]

Thanks Nigel. Your videos are the best.

[@MrJcalais]

Nice to see that I'm not the only one who is never satisfied with what we are given, we always seem to want more

[@bradzaruba9686]

A lovely vlog for us this week. From 30 years in television: make sure the reward is worth the risk when getting an image (whether it be video or still). This from engineers who had to clean or fix equipment when a photographer thought dragging equipment through the mud was a good idea!

[@matthewbell1968]

Top drawer video in every respect thanks Nigel 👍

[@StefanOffermann]

Today I learned about reflections on the water, thanks Nigel!

[@drpepper998]

Thanks for another great video. I always get some great techniques on composition from watching.

[@Jack-se2iz]

Beautiful compositions and images. Thank you!

[@ChuckKarl525]

Thank you Sir. So much to learn and i am in the right spot.

[@JohnHPettigrewFujishooter67]

Thanks for sharing Nigel, enjoyed the video and the images.

[@mawavoy]

Nigel, a nice set of images, and an informative mentoring session. Great start to my week!

[@SteveZodiac777]

Beautiful work - thanks for sharing!

[@eamonoc2268]

Lots of subtle but really important points in your video this morning. I rarely try to shoot waterfalls on sunny days but now I see the possibilities to get better shots in those conditions. Good to know how to make use of that reflected light and additional colour. Love your videos. Always deserve a 'Like'. Thank you.

[@LisaFrostPhoto]

Great tip about the reflected light - it can be all too easy to just polarise all the time but you sometimes lose the character of the scene that way. I actually like the further away shot showing more of the tree - it just feels more balanced to me. I may be odd but I also don't mind if the entire scene is not razor sharp...a little softness in the immediate foreground or background (depending on the subject) feels more natural to me. And I'm really impressed with the effort you go to for your vlogging scenes! Great video as always Nigel!

[@peterkc1610]

👍 l love your landscape photography.

[@peterfritzphoto]

Great video, Nigel - particularly the discussion around retaining reflections in the water versus polarising them out.

[@MadsPeterIversen]

Love those waterfalls. I wish we had more (any) in Denmark, you can get such good photos from such small scenes :)

[@petegerardini2455]

Come down here, there are a lot of small to midsized waterfalls around Pirmasens, Germany. There are several that fall down at least a meter over an overhang out crops that then have a meter of space behind the water one can walk behind. My daughter gets a kick out of it, because it's like the Disney Jungle Book ride that has the bit with "back side of water!" Plus, there's nothing like hanging out at beer garden in the forest. Plus, the sandstone outcrops and castles. facebook.com/1578224139/videos/10220406070293337/

[@joestrahl6980]

Mads: In eastern Skåne Sweden there are the Forsakar (two main falls 7 respectively 10 meters) and Hallamölla waterfalls (many smaller falls)...not so far from Denmark.

[@olegaertner3210]

Went to Denmark's largest waterfall on Bornholm last summer and without a doubt, it wasn't "large" xD

[@mariebird01]

Thank you for this brilliant video, Nigel. I feel an affinity with water scenes, no matter if it is sea, rivers… water is so amazing, always changing, so alive! I watched this inspiring video after coming back from taking shots of riverbank reflections from the place where I live. I now feel inspired to go out again and find waterfalls! Thank you

[@grahamegannon9708]

I am a magnet to waterfalls, I love photographing them and sometimes put myself in very precarious positions to take a shot. We should remember safety first!! I have just returned from a trip to Argyle and north Perthshire where I took numerous photos of waterfalls. I wish I had seen this video before I went! thanks for the great tips Nigel.

[@avilesrg]

Thank you for another excellent video.

[@claredreyer1]

Love waterfalls! Thanks!

[@dilus13]

As an amateur photographer about to embark on a lap of Iceland in August, I think I am just going to be blown away with the enormity of the waterfalls I am hoping to visit there. I will try my utmost to get the best images I can taking on board all the advice I have gained, it’s going to be a steep learning curve for sure but one I am relishing. Thanks for all of the advice Nigel, not only from this video 👍

[@M0nkee_mode]

In Washington we have thousands of amazing waterfalls, I recently explored Palouse falls which was spectacular.

[@judobeiderbasel]

The reflections of the sky and the canopy on the troubled water is a nice aspect you pointed out. I will watch out for this in the future. Thanks for making me aware!

[@PaulHarveyAustralia]

Thanks Nigel. Always look forward to your Sunday night video.

[@joysongonmei8010]

Thank you. I've been following your videos and it's really worth it. 👍 Keep making it more ❤️

[@sulemanabdullahsulemani1038]

Learn so much from your tutorials. They are amazing and concise. The way you express feelings and mode through your art is fascinating. More power and love to you . Solomon from Pakistan 🇵🇰

[@lisabradley9288]

Loved your waterfall images Nigel, it's amazing how you manage to make such small waterfall's look amazing. Looking forward to next week's content 🙂📸 keep it up

[@glennricks]

Yet another brilliant video, thanks so much Nigel. Well gotta go, waterfalls to find and photograph.

[@Bbabcockok]

Excellent information and suggestions to help with waterfalls...

[@stevealder-goad2756]

Waterfalls are my favourite go-to. Especially after a strong rainfall. My drone helps achieve some of those otherwise impossible perspectives of them too. Great work as always Nigel.

[@adamhewitt8763]

Really lovely images nigel, love that first one. Bloody hard going working out compositions with waterfalls.

[@gord_tomlin]

Thanks for the insights, Nigel. One of my plans for this summer is to seek out a few waterfalls, so your ideas will definitely come in handy.

[@BroswithBeerandPants]

Finally put up the money to buy the Kase filter kit for my wide angle lens that I use for the majority of my landscape/waterfall photography. Used your code, hope you get a kickback for it. Your videos have certainly helped me grow my knowledge and what I think about when moving into a shot. Thank you Nigel for all you do and the effort you put in.

[@Highdepthfilms]

Great video Nigel. I was just shooting a waterfall here in Northern California and ran into similar situation. Thanks for all that you do on the channel.

[@randyschwager2515]

Nice change of subject! Love the waterfall images!

[@paulburwood8231]

Great images as always Nigel; and love the treacherous position you got yourself into to grab the images.

[@tanyablais2992]

I think it might be awhile before I set up my tripod as precariously as you! Thanks for the tips!

[@Mr33Ian]

Fantastic video as always Nigel 👍

[@alohaleslie9407]

Aloha Nigel! I love your waterfall photos. While in Hawaii last month, I practiced on a very small falls that graced the entrance of a resort. I mean really small, LOL, in comparison with yours. But each day I passed by I stopped by to capture new images and experiment with different settings. I was finally able to get a few that I liked, nothing spectacular. I'm really looking forward to photographing some as stunning as yours. Thanks for you amazing instructions.

[@tTLM823]

Thanks for such an informative video, as always!

[@steveconnors3233]

Great video Nigel Learned a lot Amazing balance It helps to have mountain goat like dexterity Nigel 🙂

[@chrispoulsen_]

Amazing video Nigel 🙏

[@outdoorstours]

Really great video , beautifully edited and very informative. Many thanks for your help about great photography

[@paulcollingridge8387]

Was in Swaledale last week... Waterfalls, flowering hawthorn, bluebells, long stone walls.... It had it all...... Oh, and the sun came out and the pubs were open

[@anthonyplancherel8274]

Beautiful images! Great video as always!

[@tonymckeage1028]

Good evening, thanks for your great video , have a great week

[@Rob.1340]

Thank you.👍😎

[@robcoates4394]

Our winter rains are just starting here in Perth so the streams in he hills should be getting interesting. For some reason I'm suddenly inspired to go and do some waterfall shooting, using some recently acquired tips. 😊 Many thanks Nigel and cheers from DownUnder. PS You definitely have the best video skills (and patience) of all the online photo gurus.

[@AndyBanner]

Another great video. I love shooting waterfalls, but living on the Norfolk Broads makes that a rather sporadic exercise. I was in the Peak District last week and got a banger for one of my next vlogs. I would have entered it in the WLP competition had I shot it a week earlier! Thanks for your inspiration, Nigel.

[@davchow8124]

Like the contrast between the sunlight and the foreground shadow .

[@robertwhitemoto]

great drone work too, in cramped spaces. I wish we had more waterfalls here in flat north Texas.

[@CharlesPalmerPhotography]

I enjoy waterfalls too, though it feels like an age since I managed to drive anywhere with decent falls. You've inspired me to get back up to the Peak District though (Can't really make it to the Lakes unless I book time off work) and see if I can find any falls off the main trails. OS maps here I come!

[@devroombagchus7460]

I wish you had shown images together. Now I had to rely on memory only, to find the new one less sharp. Wonderful images. My compliments. Coming from the real Alps, I dread sunless days, which are fortunately much rarer than in the Lake District.

[@perpetualmoto]

I ride my motorcycle to hard to reach destinations and shoot waterfalls...lol, i dont bring a tripod or anything so the challenge for me is always figuring out the best shot with what i have...i also find around 1 sec seems to bring a good image while saving the highlights. love waterfalls!!

[@raphaelcoelho1557]

In Brazil we have infinte water falls. I love them. Some of my tests I realize how important is the variation of the shutter speed to get more textures and choose one. But also, light could become very flat and horrible when the water is perpendicular to the sensor plane causing also awful reflections. So, today I always try to get higher tripod positions to face water more frontal. For sure when the water is mostly vertical it is not needed. Other point is that I use more the astrophotography strategy of shooting with under exposure but lots and lots of shots and steach them together (what essentialy is what your camera does after reading signals many many times). The idea, however, is that you have more control of the highlights where the programs steaching them usually stop adding signal as it becomes closer to the pure white. That is very interesting geting high control of how the water will looks like. It would be interesting to talk more about the shutter speed selection. Rachael Talibart is a master on that.

[@martharetallick204]

We're having a heat wave and a drought in Tucson, Arizona. Nice to see flowing water, even if it's in a video.

[@tjsinva]

Nice spot, lots of potential. 🥂

[@ducvienphotography]

Dangerous places often have beautiful scenes. Thank you

[@clansman66]

Honestly, the efforts you go to for B roll as well as taking your drone into places that would just scare me witless are to be commended. Not to mention the positions you got yourself into in this shoot, sometimes waterfalls can look just way too milky with exposure time being longer that needed, nice work Nigel 👍.

[@ncc1701BB]

@Stuart - Agree. @Nigel - I have been following your videos and find them very helpful and full of good advice. Thank you for the time, effort, and thought you put into them. The integration of your done video is perfect. What done did you use?

[@antonoat]

Xclnt film Nigel, cracking images!

[@emmaturner8609]

Great video as always! Not sure if you will see this question but with the shots taken from the bridge did you take any at faster shutter speeds to avoid the leaves blurring with any breeze?

[@patrick.771]

Really like your on location videos ;-) What filter size do you use for your 14-30? 95mm from Kase?

[@Danny_Roman.]

Wow Nigel , that was scary watching this video. I was panicking incase you knocked your tripod over whilst filming. Other than that , an amazing picture , superb quality. Cheers.

[@paulbenson3441]

Hi Nigel, great first shot of the waterfall from that precarious position - the risk was well worth it. Did you have to exposure blend after all?

[@carlmcneill1139]

On the topic of polarizers, have you ever had a situation where there was a pool of water that you needed to use the polarizer ok but other areas where you didn't? Have you taken separate pictures just to have different amounts of reflection that you blended in later in Photoshop? You want the reflection on the wet rocks but there might be a pool of water that you want to see the rocks underneath so you use the polarizer for that. I hope this makes sense. I've seen photographers use different shutter speeds when there's more than one fall in the same picture and then blend those together. I'm learning that some pictures are like a puzzle you put together. You may take different exposures to have more dynamic range and have clean images. You can have a time blended image where certain parts of the image were shot at a different time. I guess you can have different looks with your polarizer so you get a reflection in one shot and no reflection in another and then blend them. Then piece it altogether in Photoshop. I know that's a lot of work but some people enjoy editing as much as taking the pictures.

[@peterfritzphoto]

Nigel - what’s that mic on your camera with the XLR connection…?

[@ianbarnes1406]

Yesterday I was looking through some photos I took of a 'secret' waterfall on Dartmoor which I haven't processed yet and found exactly the same problem with foreground rocks not being pin sharp. My excuse was that the wife was sitting close by twiddling her thumbs waiting for me to finish and I felt a bit rushed! I also forgot to use a polariser to give me some variety in the level of reflections 😪

[@keithdrew7416]

Wondering about later shot from the bridge - with slow shutter speeds what do you do with the leaves if they are moving in the breeze/wind? Wait for a still day…? 😕

[@MSmith-Photography]

I.may be shooting some waterfalls today, but that depends on how much the recent rains have hung around.

[@janewillis2421]

Loved this week's video 🌿... where is Pebbles? Hope she is ok

[@warrenswales5693]

Always prefer landscapes to include an element of water, whether lakes, rivers or waterfalls, as such features are what shape the land. Love the danger angle on your visit to this location. Do you have a stunt double? 😁 With an absence of people, was the video shot 7am and on a weekday ... just wondering how busy it is there now?

[@Danny_Roman.]

Fingers crossed everyone for the compo next Sunday

[@paulcomptonpdphotography]

You did some scrambling lol

[@mikeg2916]

What type of shoes do you wear for walking on dirt or gravel trails and trekking through water?

[@pcproffy]

If it's just a couple inches of water I'll wear hiking boots. If I'm going in the water then slip on beach shoes are great, only $20. Wear them for the whole hike, or they're small enough put in the backpack, just wrap in a plastic bag. Or Finally, a quality pair of full strap sandals is the best of both worlds.

[@mikeg2916]

@@pcproffy thanks!!!

[@KevinNordstrom]

First!

[@kefkapalazzo1]

The waterfalls in nyc are so tiny in not sure I can classify them as such haha

[@BenelliMr]

for such photyos, you definitely have to visit Switzerland and its Verzasca valley, but watch your wallet :( Switzerland is extremely expensive

[@JoshuaWyborn]

Ok so I live in Carlisle and im in the lakes all the time but where the heck is this?! Driving me mad haha!

[@naveenraghavan9400]

How did you get the chance to travel alone through these area?

[@JonnyGiosPhotography]

Looks like Rydal Hall Nigel ?

[@christopherkelly766]

Hello what software do you use to edit

[@jakeb5453]

Where is that? would love to go