Spring Break Part One: Falls Creek Falls

Hello! I recently returned from a multi-day car camping trip in the Columbia River Gorge area, where I was able to hike trails on both the Washington and Oregon sides. I'll be posting my photography over the next couple of weeks as I have time.

My first destination was Falls Creek Falls, via the Lower Falls Creek Trail in Washington's Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I timed my visit for what turned out to be the only solidly overcast day of the trip. Even with this favorable lighting, I had challenges with contrast. In most cases, I erred on the side of underexposure to preserve detail in highlights (especially in waterfalls/rapids). This led to more noise and less sharpness in darker areas than would be ideal. Nevertheless, I've had success with images in print with poorer image quality and sharpness, so here goes!

First, the falls at the end of the trail. Spray from the waterfall made photography challenging; the volume of water hitting my lens (and camera backpack) was similar to what I might encounter in a rainstorm strong enough to preclude photography. Nevertheless, I took out my lens cleaning cloths and soldiered on. The composition below is my favorite result; the complex waterfall and cedar tree at right made the incessant lens-wiping worthwhile. F/18, 0.4 seconds.

The day held plenty of other lovely attractions, however, including nice scenery along the rest of the trail. Here's a view of Falls Creek from roughly halfway along the trail. I thought the split in the creek might be visually interesting, particularly set against all the mossy branches. F/18, 1.6 seconds.

Next, another view of Falls Creek, with mossy branches in the foreground. I think this idea was more interesting in my mind's eye than in execution. Nevertheless, I thought I'd post the result. It might be more interesting enlarged as a print; the creek might come through more clearly. F/20, 0.6 seconds.

Later in the day, I visited the nearby Panther Creek Falls. I wasn't particularly thrilled by my compositions with a wide depth of field; the different green elements were indistinct from one another, and I had a hard time conveying a sense of scale. The image below, however, is interesting, with the falls out of focus and framed by cedar branches. With the slow shutter speed required by the low light (1/6 second), I had a hard time freezing the branches in the breeze. This is my best result, and I think it's sharp enough to be acceptable in print, at least at some sizes. I know that in my year-in-review posts, I've expressed a desire to try more compositions with a narrow depth of field. F/6.3.

Tha's all for now. Stay tuned for some wildflowers!