I have visited and photographed Petit Jean State Park and its well-known Cedar Falls many times over the last 25-plus years. But, it was just a few years ago when I discovered another waterfall that flows over the Lake Bailey Dam.
My discovery of the waterfall came about by complete happenstance. I was searching the internet one night trying to find some new photographic locations. When I came across an image of this waterfall and realized it was located at Petit Jean, it became my mission to find and photograph it. I just knew I had to find it.
As it turned out, I had passed by this spot many times. But, because it is not easily seen from the road, I had never noticed it, nor had I ever stopped to look around. Shame on me!
I left my house early on a Saturday morning so I could be sure to arrive before sunrise. Unfortunately, I had not fully taken weather conditions into account before I left home wearing only a shirt and light jacket. Needless to say, that isn’t the best way to be dressed when it’s 40 degrees, the wind is blowing, and it’s dark.
It was only a matter of minutes before the adrenaline rush from the excitement of finding my quarry began to wear off. As I stood behind a tree trying to block some of the wind, I began to seriously question the sanity of what I was doing. But, I was determined to get my shot, and I decided to hang in there and get it.
I used my 70-200mm lens to frame the image. I selected the smallest aperture on the lens, f/32, for two reasons. First, I wanted to ensure enough depth of field so the entire picture was sharp. Second, and perhaps most importantly, the small aperture required a long shutter speed of six seconds, which I knew would create the smooth silky effect that I wanted.
Although the area was in shade and being lit by the sky rather than directly by the sun, I used a daylight white balance because this would give the scene a bluish color tint that, to me, was in keeping with the cold temperature I endured to get this picture. However, when I got home and reviewed the image, I realized it had a stronger blue cast than I wanted. To solve that problem, I used the temperature slider in Lightroom to add a little warmth, which eliminated the blue tones.