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This past weekend it was warm in the Pacific Northwest for the first time in over 8 months, and seeing as I didn’t travel anywhere warm in that time, it was also the first time I could happily wear a T-shirt in so many months. I hardly remembered what 85° F felt like; what an incredible feeling! With all that warmth coming just a week after the last major snowstorm, I decided it would be a great time to see some waterfalls in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest engorged with the fresh snowmelt. And engorged they were. Raging in fact. Or, for the photographers in the audience, roaring as Peter Lik would say.
To experience the maximum intensity our northwest waterfalls have to offer, I bushwhacked my way to see Rush Creek Falls – a truly gargantuan waterfall unlike any other I’ve ever seen. The intense power in such an intimate and isolated arena of moss was an incredibly surreal and special combination. Within minutes of getting to the falls I was completely soaked from the spray. Taking a photograph was naturally rather challenging; it was like trying to photograph in a torrential downpour, with the camera pointed up. Between lots of lens wiping and some advanced processing methods I managed to pull something together that might just capture a small fraction of what it was like to stand there. To complete the sensory experience, just imagine roaring thunder and a face full of recently-melted-snow-water spray.
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Spring Rush : Prints AvailableThe raging spectacle of Rush Creek falls in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest.The Tech: Canon 5D2, Nikon 14-24mm, tripod, clothes
Exposure (falls): iso 1600, f/11, 1/50th
Exposure (foreground): iso 1600, f/11, 1/13th
Notes: I used 7 exposures to reduce the spray drops. Note the high iso was necessary to freeze the water action, as well as to minimize the time the lens was exposed to the constant barrage of spray.
Immense power is, of course, only one characteristic of an inspiring waterfall. After a good soaking in the airborne Rush Creek, I was delighted to relax in the soothing grace of a calmer paradise.
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Liquid Lace : Prints AvailableA complex network of delicate rivulets meander through a maze of mosses, in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest.The Tech: Canon 5D2, 24-105mm, tripod, polarizer
Exposure: iso 200, f/5.6, 0.3 sec
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Paradise : Prints AvailableWarm sunlight in waterfall paradise, in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest.The Tech: Canon 5D2, 24-105mm, tripod, polarizer
Exposure: iso 100, f/11, 1.6 sec
In my experience, few things can match the beauty and refreshment of cascades sparkling in the sun. That combination brings the warmth of sunlight, the soothing sounds of rushing water, the mesmerizing twinkles of light, and of course the vibrant greenery that adorns such special places.
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Sun Showers : Prints AvailableA beautiful waterfall sparkles in the warm sunlight on the first warm day of spring in Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest.The Tech: Canon 5D2, Nikon 14-24mm, tripod
Exposure (water): iso 1600, f/16, 1/20th
Exposure (foreground): iso 800, f/16, 1/10th
Notes: two exposures blended to for light and noise control.
Tags: greenery, spring, waterfalls