I didn’t realize how bad my wife’s case of cabin fever was until she decided to get up at 4:30 on a Saturday morning to accompany me on a trip to photograph the small waterfalls on Collins Creek. Since she was joining me, we also had to take our dog. What had begun as a short photographic trip was now a family affair.
We arrived at the small parking lot and headed down the short trail to the creek and its waterfalls. Reaching the creek, I stopped and began assessing the photographic opportunities. My wife and dog continued on with their exploration.
I set up my camera and began shooting. The waterfalls on Collins Creek are small and no more than a one or two feet tall, but the types of falls are quite varied. There are block waterfalls, plunge waterfalls, and horsetail falls. The variety is amazing.
I have been to Collins Creek to photograph the little waterfalls several times. But, this was the first time I had noticed this small punchbowl type waterfall. It was quite captivating.
Standing on a small rock that was surrounded on three sides by water and was just barely big enough for just me, I had very little room to maneuver my tripod. I quickly realized that I needed to invest in a pair of rubber boots to deal with these types of situations.
Positioning the tripod, I didn’t extend any of the legs because I wanted to keep the camera as low as possible. Raising the camera would have created the sense of looking down on the waterfall, which you would have been, and I felt that weakened the overall composition.
With my 16-35mm lens set at a focal length of 35mm and aperture of f/22, I focused about 12 feet into the scene to ensure complete depth of field. If any part of the image, especially the foreground, was not sharp, the picture would have been ruined.
The small aperture not only provided the necessary depth of field, but it also resulted in a shutter speed of 20 seconds. The long shutter speed smoothed out the flow of the waterfall creating a silky effect I was wanting. Fortunately, the wind was completely calm, so the leaves in the background also recorded as perfectly sharp.
Not long after I got this shot, my wife and dog returned from their adventure. I’m not sure exactly where they had gone off to. But, my dog, who has a complete inability to pace himself, had grown tired and was ready to go home. I tried to get just a few more hurried shots, but he quickly let me know it was time to call it a day. So, we all loaded back up in the car and headed home.