Multnomah Falls

[ProCaliberTraveler]

Multnomah Falls was my ultimate destination in the Columbia River Gorge over the weekend. What I remember most is the sound of the falls. It sounded like a combination of thunder, a jet engine and a roller coaster.

So much power! Some of the information signs on the trail warn visitors to be alert for falling rock. In 1995, a bus-sized chunk of the basalt wall fell into the pool, creating a wave powerful enough to knock a wedding party on the bridge to the ground.

Right before my friend and I left, the sun emerged from behind the clouds. It created the magical scene here. I felt as if I was standing inside a scene from a fantasy film.

f/2.8 1/800 ISO 100

 

[AlanLichty]

The grand old icon of the Gorge. That's a pretty high water flow - just like all the rest of the falls in the NW right now. I like the mist from the spray behind the trees. Nice takeaway.

I was looking at these falls today from the Washington side of the Columbia.

 

[JimFox]

Wow Michael! That’s really awesome looking. Great mist in this, and I like the way that low cloud is behind the bare tree on the right. Pretty neat!

A thought on your camera settings, 1/800th of a second is great for stopping the motion and capturing the power of the water. But I would suggest shooting more to f5.6 or f8. There will be defraction on your lens at f2.8 along with the very shallow DoF. So you run the risk of objects being out of focus in the image. With today’s cameras, it’s totally fine to shoot above base ISO, in your case ISO 100. In the early days of digital, it was readily noticeable when you went even to ISO 400. Without hesitation I will shoot at ISO 800 during the daylight, and even to 1600 if it’s needed to maintain a high shutter speed.

 

[ProCaliberTraveler]

Good point, Jim. I did notice some diffraction in the upper right corner of some of the images. Sometimes I like how it looks in the photo, but not this time.
Thank you for your tips on ISO.

 

[JimFox]

Good point, Jim. I did notice some diffraction in the upper right corner of some of the images. Sometimes I like how it looks in the photo, but not this time.
Thank you for your tips on ISO.

Oh I agree, shooting at f2.8 and getting a limited DoF can be powerful too. @AaronRashid in his Intro thread posted a really powerful photo with limited DoF.

I am glad you liked the suggestions. One thing I always think of is that we also have lot's of guests who view our photos each day and read the comments. So sometimes when any of us make suggestions or reminders on different methods of photography, there are always people reading these threads that can learn from them, even if sometimes we already might know that information. That's why I typically add information or will type out some of the steps in my processing even though most of our members will already know that, because I know there are those "silent" guests who can still learn from it, and perhaps one day they will Register to become actual members because they have found the information helpful.

 

[Ben Egbert]

A unique take on this icon,

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Great image, Michael. I have ever seen these falls with so much water.

 

[Timmeh]

I like your take Michael! What were you trying to put out of focus with the large aperture? If your plan was to get the foreground plants out of focus, I'm almost certain that style involves blending in an image that has focus pushed past infinity to get as much bokeh as possible.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Very nice mood in this. - like the misty look. In some ways the wide aperture helped give it that mood.

 

[ProCaliberTraveler]

I like your take Michael! What were you trying to put out of focus with the large aperture? If your plan was to get the foreground plants out of focus, I'm almost certain that style involves blending in an image that has focus pushed past infinity to get as much bokeh as possible.

No, I don’t thinkI used the wide aperture as an attempt to get the foreground plants out of focus. I think it was more to do with the light. I like what a wide aperture does with light sources, makes them softer, if that makes sense.