January 6, 2016

Photo of the Week - Meigs Falls During an Autumn Rain




Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

This 30-foot waterfall is conveniently located along the Little River Road between Cades Cove and the Sugarlands Visitor Center. No hiking is required! There is a convenient pull-off area, and the waterfall is visible from the side of the road. (Please click the image to see it bigger.)

Shooting in the rain is a challenge. It’s messy too. But when you are on trip with a limited period of time, you frequently have to take your shots when you can. You simply don’t have the luxury of waiting out the weather conditions.

My trip to the Smokies this last fall was a little bit frustrating. The fall colors were some of the most gorgeous displayed in the last 20 years. Yet, it rained, rained, rained. I was grateful for the overcast skies to reduce hot-spot glare on the foliage, water, and rocks. But the constant rain was a nuisance. I got wet, despite wearing raingear. My equipment got wet too, despite protections and many microfiber towels. (The Fuji gear was more weather resistant than me, haha).

However, the biggest obstacle for most of my compositions was the movement of rain on the leaves. To get the silky look of moving water, a long exposure is required. But leaves become a blurry mess if there is rain or wind during a 3 to 4-second exposure.

So how did I adapt? I set up the camera on a tripod, composed a shot, choose the proper exposure settings, and clicked the shutter over and over again, wiping down my lens between each shot. I used a zoom feature on my camera’s back screen to spot-check sharpness of each image at 100%. At this particular location, I took a dozen vertical shots and five horizontal. This one was among the sharpest, and it turned out decent enough to share with you.

When wet weather isn’t my friend during a planned photo shoot, I simply shoot more, check my work for quality frequently, and hope for the best. One of the beautiful features about digital photography is that extra shooting isn’t going to cost me money (like film), only some additional time.

14 comments:

  1. This is absolutely gorgeous. Nice that it's visible from the road too. There is another blogger who has talked about Cades Cove and she loves her waterfalls so I bet she's also seen this one

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  2. That was an interesting discussion of how you got the shot. Not sure that I understand it, but I am trying to imagine what it would look like if I were watching you.

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    1. I would look very wet and a bit irritated, LOL.

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  3. So glad you persevered. It's a gorgeous shot. I'm looking forward to trying your tips on shooting water one day this spring. Love that silky look.

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  4. Beautiful shot, and a good explanation. I often think that to get great shots it's just a matter of going slower, taking more time to check focus, and taking more shots to be sure the exposure is right. It would be nice not to have to do it in the rain though!

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  5. So beautiful, Donna. I love how you take the time, and effort, to bring us such gorgeous photo's.

    xoxo

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  6. I think it's beautiful. I hope to travel through this park one year in the autumn. Your photo makes me want to all the more! Thanks for always sharing your photography knowledge too.

    Deanna

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  7. This is so beautiful! I'm curious if you have ever photographed snowy landscapes (besides snow on mountains). Forgive me if you did and I can't remember! You would do such an awesome job!

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    1. Thanks you! And yes, I have featured some snowy landscape photos several times. You may recall some that I shared from a couple of years ago, while photographing polar bears in Manitoba, Canada. The trick to snow landscapes is to use exposure compensation so that the snow in the image doesn't turn out grey. Please Google search for "exposure compensation in snow scenes" to get more information.

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  8. you did VERY well, love this colourful view.

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  9. Gorgeous! As always. You would be frustrated much of the time if you came to Oregon during the winter - although we've had some beautiful dry days that would be perfect for shooting a few photos.
    ~Adrienne~

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  10. This photo is worth standing in the rain for...gorgeous!

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  11. I could stand on my head and it wouldn't help me get this kind of shot...sigh...Beautiful!
    hughugs

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