Small Waterfall

I recently decided that it was time to make another trip to Petit Jean State Park to photograph some waterfalls.  I figured the rains we received from Tropical Storm Gordon would make for some dramatic waterfall images.  In addition, the weather was just too nice to not take advantage of it.  The overcast skies provided perfect soft, even lighting and cooler temperatures, which made it feel like a typically wonderful autumn day.  The clouds also provided the additional benefit of allowing me to sleep in just a little bit later.  What more could one ask for?

Arriving at the park, I drove by one of the waterfalls I intended to photograph, the Davies Bridge waterfall, expecting to see water gushing over the falls.  To my utter disappointment, the waterfall was bone dry.  Apparently, Gordon’s rains hadn’t made it as far west as I had thought.  If the Davies Bridge waterfall was dry, I knew the others would be, too. 

Determined not to waste such wonderful weather, I drove back to the waterfall at Lake Bailey Dam.  I maintained just a small flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, that one had a little more water.  After arriving at the location, my flicker of hope was instantly quashed when I got out of my vehicle and heard the sound of. . .nothing.  No roar of water flowing over the rocks, not even the slightest sound of trickling water.  Just. . .nothing.  But, again, the weather was just too nice to not at least look around and see what else I could find, so I wandered over to the sadly quiet Lake Bailey Dam waterfall.

Reaching the dam, it was exactly as I had expected, perhaps even worse.  Not only was water not cascading over the rocks, but it appeared that the waterfall had not been flowing for quite some time.  There weren’t even any little pools of water in the small pits of the rocks.

Climbing down and walking on the rocks beneath the waterfall area, something caught my eye:  a very small waterfall not more than a few inches high.  Stuck on the rock underneath the flow of water were a few small, orange leaves which just seemed to perfectly capture the autumn-like feel of the day.  I set up my tripod and camera very close to the little waterfall, probably no more than 12 to 18 from it, and took several shots.

In order to get the shutter speed as long as I could, I increased the exposure by one stop, which increased the shutter speed from approximately 1.6 seconds to 3.2 seconds.  This created the silky effect for the water flow that I was looking for, but it also brightened the image far more than what I wanted.

 Opening the image in Lightroom, I made several global adjustments to the image including reducing exposure, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks; adding contrast and clarity; increasing color vibrance; and adding just a touch of saturation.  I then opened the picture in Photoshop and applied one of my favorite filters, the Nik Tonal Contrast filter.  This added some additional contrast and also accentuated the orange tones in the photograph and highlighted the sense that autumn is truly just around the corner.

Settings:  67mm, 3.2 sec, f/22, ISO 100