Waterfall Photography Settings for the Best Results

How do you arrive at the proper waterfall photography settings when you are getting ready to shoot a spectacular scene such as the Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis? You watch this video as your instructor, professional photographer, Layne Kennedy, walks you through the process of waterfall photography settings.

Layne has already photographed wide images from the top of the falls, and then he shot closer images from the side angle, adjusting the waterfall photography settings along the way. Now he moves his camera to the bottom of the falls where he will photograph what he calls “the quintessential shot of the full area that consumes the waterfalls.”

There, he confronts light rain and covering of gray clouds. This calls for an adjustment in the white balance setting on the camera. “For rainy or misty scenes, you want to use the cloudy setting on white balance,” he explains. The cloudy setting will warm up the environment and result in a much more pleasing image. Under gray or rainy skies, if you leave the white balance setting on Auto, the resulting photograph will take on a disappointing, bluish cast.

Before escaping the rain, Layne captures a beautiful image through a two second exposure at ISO 100 so that the waterfall is recorded in unruffled smoothness. “The cotton candy look,” he likes to call it. For additional drama and perspective, he suggests including people in your shot to add color, but adds, “Be sure the subjects are standing still if you use a long exposure so they won’t look blurred.” Ultimately, it’s all about getting the correct waterfall photography settings for the best results.

Get great landscape photography tips and a helpful tutorial on waterfall photography settings from pro photographer, Layne Kennedy. Then, hit the outdoors and try them out on your own waterfall images.

MORE IN THIS COURSE:

Photographing Waterfalls & Other Items in Nature – Course Preview
Waterfall Photography Tips and the Cotton Candy Effect
How to Photograph a Waterfall & Its Surrounding Vegetation
Waterfall Photography Settings for the Best Results
How to Photograph in the Rain
Creating a Moody Photograph with Long Exposure
Depth of Field in Photography
Outdoor Photography in Cloudy Conditions
Creating a Sense of Scale in Outdoor Photography
Using Backlight in Photography
Photographing Wildflowers