Waterfall secrets

Waterfalls are one of the most enticing of landscape subjects. From a photographer’s perspective there’s so much potential. First and foremost there’s the movement of the cascading water, which we can transform into silky-smooth blur with a long exposure. Then there are surrounding details like rocks, rivers and foliage, which can all add wonderful foreground interest. As such, any self-respecting photographer would reach for an ND filter, set up a long exposure and capture the motion in the water as beautiful blur. While this is usually the best course of action, there are other less obvious tricks and skills we can use in combination with our long exposures to elevate our waterfall photos.

Some of these tricks are purely camera skills, while others require a combination