507 - Eagle Falls
Today’s shoot was a lesson in precision cropping and composition. Everything in this photo is intentional, down to the most minute details.
I don’t want to get to “in the sauce” today about the hike into this waterfall (known as Eagle Falls,) because it was honestly boring as hell. It was like a 1 mile walk, and I slept in front of the trailhead.
Which I’m not going to lie, was a bit sketchy. It was on the side of a curvy road. One little drunk driver and I would have been toast. But hey, I like to think there aren’t many drunk drivers on wilderness roads in the middle of nowhere.
Either way, I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn to find this elusive waterfall. I say elusive because it's right next to the “infamous” Cumberland Falls… A waterfall that’s largely considered “The Niagara of the East.” Which doesn’t make sense because Niagara is in the east of North America…
Whatever. I don’t question the claims. The point is most people were there, so this “elusive” waterfall was basically empty when I hiked in.
Pro-tip: If you’re near a famous landscape, search the surrounded areas to find the real hidden gems. The geology of the region is similar, so you’ll find good stuff- and the famous spot will keep the majority of tourists away.
Now let’s get into the composition of this bad boy. And oh, was this waterfall bad. Looking at the falls head on, and you get this enormous chunk of blown out sky above. It was despicable. Disgusting. Absolutely gut-wrenching.
So I did what any rational person would do, and moved to a different angle. One more to the left of the falls, that didn’t show any clouds:
“Woodland Frame”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 50 ~ 17mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/5s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
See? Nice little perspective there. And no sky to muck up my day.
So let’s break down this composition, because it gets technical, folks.
Notice how I positioned the waterfall dead center in the shoot, but also at an angle where you could see the entire arc. I think this is the most important part. Even a few inches to the left or right and it would have been cut off. You need the whole flow!
I also made sure the green tree to the top right was fully in frame, and designed to compliment the waterfall. Also notice the massive tree trunk as a foreground, which I used to give the scene some depth. It helps add to that framing element a bit too. To put the cherry on top, I made sure the root on the bottom right fit in as an extremely subtle leading line.
Look for the subtleties! They add up, folks.
And yeah, that’s basically it. I liked how the morning light popped on the rocks like freckles. That was a nice touch.
In retrospect, I spent a lot of time on that one composition. One thing I need to get better about is not taking so many damn shots at a waterfall. Lately I’ve been coming home with like 20 different angles, and it's been taking me forever to pick one. If you don’t believe me, check out my last shoot at Dog Slaughter Falls where I ended up publishing three angles of the same falls. Hah.
Today was a good lesson in picking one composition then sitting on it for a while and perfecting it.
At the end of the day, these are both relevant strategies for landscape photography composition. (I.e. either taking many compositions, or focusing HARD on one.) I wouldn’t recommend sticking to just one or the other all the time, but to spend some days where you do one or the other.
It’ll train you to be good at both sides of the story. Anyway, that’s today’s shoot folks. A shortie but a goodie.
On the next adventure I meet a reincarnated moth. Stay tuned.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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