Your best waterfall photo

[ApproachingLight]

Great photo!!!!

[Matt]

I want to make sure I respond to everyone's posts... slowly getting through.

This is one of my favorite scenes at Niagara, and I always try to capture it in as much detail as I can. This is where man meets power. Although the Maid of the Mist shots tend to be the more popular photos of Niagara that add the human element and sense of scale to the falls, this one is really a photo of human interaction with the falls. On a crowded day, a hundred people could be on the platforms, reaching out, taking photos, looking in wonder, and generally being hypnotized by the moving water. This photo is really case study of people enjoying a waterfall- a break from the silky photos of woods-deep waterfalls, and natural settings. This mixes up the natural tones of the falls and mossy boulders with the brightly colored wood platforms (they rebuild these every year) those bright rain ponchos. The scale here is breathtaking if you give yourself time to consider... this is just a small section of the falls, yet the people are like ants. Even the small offshoots around the boulders are as big as a lot fo the falls we hike to in the Finger Lakes. And at peak tourist season we are only seeing about half the flow over the falls.
An excellent photo!

[Mikell]

Thanks Matt.
I'm glad you appreciated my photo as much as I did. I didn't know, until I got home, that this would be one of my favourite shots of the day since we were across the river and really more focused on the Canadian side and falls. I thought I was too far away to capture much detail on the American side.

The photo and your comments (I didn't know they rebuild those platforms every year!) have sparked my interest in going back to experience the falls on those steps for myself. I can only imagine how powerful it must be to stand next to that roaring water.

It really is a marvel of nature and one that EVERYONE who has the chance should see for themselves. No excuses if you live in Upstate NY.

[Matt]

hard to say because I have many favorites.
But I like this one here from Robert H. Treman SP.
The sun was still illuminating the tip of the trees in the back, but the waterfall was spared by the light and came out really nice

I have been to Treman only twice. One on the hottest day of the year of 2010. It was poor planning (going on a bright, hot, muggy day), and a lot of hiking up and down steps, lugging my gear. This was at the height of budget cuts and park closure threats from Governor Patterson. The swimming areas below this falls was closed, and despite it being mid-July, no one was in the park because no one knew if it was open or closed!
I was soaked from sweat and by the time I was finished, not a photo to show because of bad lighting, and I didn't even feel like driving home. I stopped here, put my feet in the water and relaxed. After a fe minutes I thought - f*** it... took my spare batteries out of my pockets, pushed my bag and tripod aside, and jumped in. The water was brilliantly clean, and despite the hot streak fo weather, chillingly cold. I'm no stranger to swimming in waterfall pools, but there's something about the pool at Treman that makes this place the best of them all. In part because of the amazing feat of engineering to carve out and dam the gorge to create the swimming area, but mostly because of these falls. Beautiful... and one of my favorite falls.

Although your pic reminds me of my experience there, it actually brings a totally new perspective of it. It seems isolated, natural and untouched. The gold beaming from behind the falls not only brings a little magic to the scene, I see it as quite a technical challenge you had to overcome (dynamic range). The touch of fall colors make me wish I visited last month... and I guess this is on my list for next fall now. You photo really makes it seems like a beautiful conclusion to a full fall day of hiking. The sun is low, the light is still good for waterfalls, and the park is empty and quiet. It's one of my favorite times in a park.

[ADWheeler]

Would have to be this shot from a recent TV show shoot. Wells Falls, Ithaca, NY.

[Mikell]

That's beautiful...love the depth with those tree roots on the foreground...nicely framed.

[pgflyer1]

You all have great photos on here! Thanks for posting them. It gives me more to strive for in my picture taking too. I shot this one a month ago, before the big storm. It's one of my first shots where I was able to capture that soft effect of water flowing. This one is about 12 foot tall.

LF 034NYFP.JPG (110.58 KiB) Viewed 4239 times

Marty

[hobkyl]

Oy vie! I've been so busy lately and haven't had much time to view this topic or any of the others discussions on here. Some great photos here so far.

I'd have to say this is mine...


Hector Falls by Kyle Hobart, on Flickr