Plenty of beautiful natural features are available in this world that we don’t know about.
However, there are also some outstanding places available, which we know, but as photographers, we never try to capture every single place!
Lots of places like the waterfall, landscapes, mountains, etc which are damn hard to capture.
If you learn and try to gain some special skills, then, in the end, you can capture something marvellous!!! That’s for sure.
So, in today’s article, I am talking about waterfall Photographs, which are tough to capture if you don’t know some required settings and equipment.
Believe me, you can capture some unique waterfall photographs using these tips, which I am going to share in this article.
As we know, to get better waterfall photos, you need to learn Manual mode, if you don’t know manual mode, then read Beginner’s QUICK guide to Manual Mode.
If you are an entry-level photographer or even an expert and want to know or learn how to capture waterfall photographs (in-depth) & want to turn the flowing water into blurry & creamy lines, then this article is for you.
Now, without wasting time, let’s get started !!!!.
How To Capture Awesome Waterfall Photographs
This article is so straightforward, so I am just sharing some tips to capture a better waterfall.
I am not talking about the shutter shutter speed or ISO or Exposure or Manual Mode etc, this kind of thing.
If you don’t know, then here are some resources that you need to read or learn to finish this Article.
- Beginners Guide to DSLR Camera
- What is Aperture ??
- What is Shutter-speed & ISO ??
- Know Exposure & Rule of Thirds
- How to Use a Wireless Shutter Release??
What you need to capture an Awesome Waterfall photograph
Here is the list of the Most Important things that you need or know to Capture an Awesome Waterfall photograph.
- Aperture
- Shutter-speed
- ISO
- Exposures
- remote shutter release
And Some Filters…
Filters are the most essential part of capturing good-looking waterfall photographs.
Filters can give you a good amount of shadow and some other sharpness, and they reduce reflections.
It also creates saturated colors and a better tonal range which are very important to transform the waterfall photograph into an Eye-catching waterfall photograph.
See this example to know the difference !!!
Photograph capture without/with ND filter
So, in this article, I suggest you total the two most popular filters that are normally used in this type of photography.
- ND filter
- Polarizing filter
You can use an ND Filter or a Polarizing filter, but if you have money, then you can buy both, but it is not necessary !!
There is little difference between these two filters.
- Some users say that ND filters are best for all types of weather, and Polarizing filters are not good enough for morning time.
- The Polarizing filter decreases reflections and gives a better tonal range.
If you are asking me which one is better, then first choose the ND filter and then the Polarizing filter.
For Indian Readers
- Buy ND filter(for Canon/Nikon)
- Buy Polarizing filter
For US Readers
- Buy ND filter(for Canon/Nikon)
- Buy Polarizing filter
All right, now you know some “Must required” equipment or topics to capture beautiful waterfalls.
So now let’s know some important tips and tricks with proper steps to capture awesome waterfall photographs.
Steps Which you need to follow
1. Let’s Find a better place !!
- Find a suitable waterfall near you.
The waterfall should have too little water to have a nice effect, Cloudy is always perfect for more intimate landscapes.
- Get one tripod.
Bonus for you!!!
If you don’t have a tripod !!!?? Find some Cheap and Amazon BEST seller tripods under 19$ (in-depth review included !!!).
- Find a perfect position where you can stick your tripod and able to capture the whole waterfall.
My suggestion is to use a wide lens to capture waterfall photographs.
- Set your tripod with a filter, and you are good to go !!!.
That’s it !!?? Nah, that’s not enough !!! Now, you just need to follow these tips to capture good-looking waterfall photographs.
2. Tips to capture awesome waterfall photographs
These tips are important to capture a great waterfall photo, so you just need to follow all these tips.
What type of Photographs do you get !!??
While doing waterfall photography, you get lots of different types of output.
It may result in a dark or even too-dark photograph.
You may even get a too-sharp photograph, or even if you work smarter, then get some sharp+blurred type of waterfall photographs, which we really want.
Let’s talk about Camera Settings !!
After setting everything up, choose manual mode and use a small aperture.
You can start with f/16 and then go towards smaller, which I use to capture good waterfall photographs.
Use the lowest ISO speed on your camera(choose ISO between 100-400) to get a sharper image and clear result !!!.
As you know, more ISO means low-quality photographs.
While looking through the viewfinder, rotate the filter and watch for the reflections till they disappear.
As we already know, sharpness is everything, this thing makes our waterfall photograph into a masterpiece !!!.
Remember the main part is shutter speed.
Shutter speeds can blur water or freeze water or neither blur nor freeze water.
So you need to try a variety of shutter speeds and experiment.
For most waterfalls, use exposures from 2 seconds up to about 1/8 second.
If you use exposures longer than 2 seconds, then the individual paths that water takes through the waterfall may be lost, so it gives you the worst result at the end.
You can use Shutter speeds over 1/1000 to stop the falling water mid-air.
After clicking a couple of photographs you may notice that slower shutter speed(2-3 sec or more) makes the water flowing, and fast shutter speed(1/1000-1/4000) makes water blurry.
If you want some real examples, then see what waterfall photographs look like while capturing them using different shutter speeds.
Follow all these tips to get sufficient waterfall photographs like this …
Credit: Unsplash
If you want to give a final finish to your photographs, then you can use these top 7 Photo Editing Applications to get a better result.
I hope you like to capture photographs using shutter speed.
If you want to capture some more interesting photographs using shutter speed, then read my guide on Night Photography to capture stunning night photographs.
If you like this article on how to capture an impressive waterfall photograph then share it and send some photographs which are captured by you using these suggestions.
Thank you have a great day.