Since I haven't been able to get out much I decided to share some tips with you on how to make a successful waterfall photograph.

• Use a sturdy Tripod
  
  This is probably the most important tip I can give you when it comes to waterfall photography.  Some of the shots require you get in the water and the currents can be pretty strong, so you will need a solid tripod.  A solid tripod is also needed for the long shutter speeds you will need to create the water blur.
  
  
• Use a circular polarizer
  
  A good, quality circular polarizer will cut glare and reflection off of rocks, the water's surface, foliage, etc..  It will also act as a ND filter and slow your shutter speed by a stop or two.
  
  
• Use a cable release
  
  A cable release will allow you to fire the shutter without touching the camera, thus eliminating camera shake.  If you don't have, or forget your cable release you can also use your camera's self timer function.
  
  
• Overcast days are best
  
  The absolute best days to photograph waterfalls is in extreme overcast conditions.  It is even better during or after a light rain.  The rain will saturate the colors of rocks and foliage making things look better all around...but this is where you will really need that circular polarizer!
  
  
• Low ISO
  
  Always shoot at your camera's lowest native ISO.
  
  
• Filters
  
  The use of ND, or Neutral Density Filters, will also help to slow your shutter sped down if the light is too bright.  I own several ND filters, but I find my results are much better if I get to the waterfall with the right light instead of relying on the ND filters.
  
  
• Go during the right time of year
  
  We have several smaller falls around my area.  I know the summer months the water will be extremely low or, in some cases, dried up all together.  The best time of year to photograph waterfalls is when your area gets the most rain.  Typically this is Fall and Spring.
  
  
• Get out there and shoot
  
  Lastly, get your tail out there and shoot some falls.  You can use Google, Flickr, etc to search for falls in your area.  Then get out and practice, practice and practice some more!
  
  
  This is a shot I made at Machine Falls located near Tullahoma, TN.
  
  Technicals: ISO 100, F/8 at .6 sec
  
  
  
  

Well, I had to go into the archives again since I'm still too busy this week to get out. 

This is an image I made several weeks ago.  It is actually a dirt road that runs through some of the woods that are part of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge near Decatur, AL.  You can usually spot wildlife in this area just riding these dirt roads in your vehicle.

I have always wanted to take this shot of one of these roads at the refuge and I finally made that happen several weeks ago.

I made this image with my Canon 5D MkII and my Lensbaby Composer with Soft Focus Optic.  I then converted it to black & white using the Nik Silver Efex Software inside Photoshop.

Technicals: ISO 100, F/8 aperture disc inside the Composer, 1/40th sec.

I have had a super busy week so far and it's only Tuesday.  My camera hasn't seen daylight in a few weeks, so tonight's image is from the GSMNP trip I took a few weeks back with a few friends.

This is a 3 image HDR processed in Photomatix Pro.  This image was only tone mapped once.  I decided to go with a more natural look on this HDR shot.  I did try a double tone mapped version but it didn't look near as good as this one.

Enjoy!

I'm feeling kind of blah tonight, so I went with an easy post.  Ha ha!  I posted one of these dew covered spider webs about a week or so go that I took near Winchester, TN.  This time you get to see one that was inside Cades Cove in the GSMNP.

Last Tuesday I made a super quick run up to the Smokies with a few great friends.  It's always good to get out and relax with a couple of great friends...it helps that they are great photographers, too.  I think it makes you a better photographer to surround yourself with other photographers that are great.

This image was made in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  As standard practice when we go, we were first in line at the gate.  We headed to Hyatt Lane and found hundreds of these things.  They were literally everywhere.  We only found a few that were occupied, and those had pretty blah backgrounds, so the shots didn't turn out that great.

I hope you enjoy this shot.  I know I did making it.  I remember how cool it was on top of that mountain in the cove compared to the scorchers we've had in North Bama lately.  Wor don the street is things should be cooling off soon, though.  Bring it on, Fall....bring it on.

Technicals: ISO 100, F/5.6 @ 1/20th

Equipment:  Canon EOS 5D MkII, Tamron 90mm Macro lens, Vanguard Alta pro 283 CT tripod and cable release.

Here's a shot I made on the Downtown Atlanta workshop that I helped out with for Bear Woods Photography.  This is a vertical HDR panoramic shot I made at one of the downtown parks.  12 shots total make up this shot.  3 HDR shots per section, and 4 sections...I hope that makes sense.

The 3 HDR shots per section were shot at 0, +2 and -2.  I processed each section in Photomatix Pro.  Then I joined the four final HDR sections in Photoshop using the Photomerge tool.

This isn't an award winning shot by any means, just a reminder to not overlook the vertical panoramic shot next time your out and about.

Enjoy!

I don't know what it is about flowing water that is so relaxing.  I absolutely love flowing water.  Standing near it, hearing it, or photographing it...it does not matter to me, they are all equally relaxing.  I hope you get the idea of how relaxing standing next to this river was the day I was there, just by looking at the photo.

This was a photo taken on our "crazy" four hour trip to the Smokies.  This image was taken in the Tremont area, which happens to be a great place for flowing water!  On the way to take this picture a big, black bear ran across the river and then across the road in front of our vehicle.  We were just minutes away from a "bear in the river" photo op.

Enjoy!

Technicals: F/22, ISO 100 @ 1.6 seconds

Equipment: Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 17-40 F/4L lens, Circular Polarizer, Vanguard Alta Pro 283CT Tripod, and a cable release

Last weekend I had the good fortune of assisting David Akoubian in a workshop/walkabout in the downtown Atlanta area.  It was a ton of fun to walk the street of downtown and meet new people at the same time.

We started out and ended up at Centennial Park.  We covered several different subjects during the walk.  My favorite subject was the Candler Building.  It is an old office building that another workshop assistant works in.  He got us special access to get inside and photograph.  This is a rare and great opportunity.  Inside the Candler Building was amazingly beautiful.  I hope I could capture half of its' beauty in this photograph.

This photo was taken in the lowest level of the building looking up the stairway.

Enjoy!

5 shot HDR Processed in Photomatix Pro.

Yesterday, I took a much needed break and rode up to GSMNP with a few friends.  It was just a quick day trip to Cades Cove and back, but boy was it ever fun and relaxing!

As always, it was beautiful inside Cades Cove.  There was a very nice layer of fog and the temperatures were amazing compared to what we have had in North Alabama recently.

We didn't shoot Sparks at first light simply because the fog hadn't made it to Sparks Lane just yet.  We rode down Hyatt Lane looking for some wildlife and ending up shooting spiderwebs for about an hour...then we made it back to Sparks.  By this time the fog had rolled in.

Although I have shot this same scene looking down Sparks Lane more than a few times, I have never shot it for HDR processing...until yesterday.  I processed this image a little on the strong side with my HDR software, but I really like how it came out.

I hope you enjoy!

This was a 3 shot HDR processed using Photomatix using the same technique I show in my HDR tutorial.

I also posted a new tutorial today in my typical Lightroom Workflow.  Check it out here

This past weekend, I went to Atlanta to help a good friend, David Akoubian, with a photography workshop in Downtown Atlanta.  When the workshop was over, I spent a few minutes in his backyard checking out these cool little caterpillars. 

I wanted to photograph them pretty bad, but I didn't bring a macro lens with me.  David offered to let me use his Nikon D700 and Tamron 90 macro.  Now, I am familiar with the Tamron macro lens, but this was my first time touching a Nikon D700.

Here's one of the results.  Not too bad for a Nikon ;)

Enjoy!

Technicals: ISO 200, F/5.0 @ 1/320th...and of course with the Nikon D700 & Tamron 90

This is a shot I took last year...about this time, too.  I wish it was as cool this year in Huntsville as it was that morning on top of Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains!    Even though it was summer, the top of Clingman's beats the tar out of 105 heat index.

In this image I really wanted to capture the fog and clouds blowing through the mountains and a little color of sunrise.  To do that I had to rely on some Adobe Lightroom work.  I think it came out pretty well.

I hope you enjoy, too!

Technicals:  ISO100, F/11, 1/25th @ 117mm