Testing Exposure Lengths for Waterfall Photography

Landscape Photography  •  Long Exposure Photography  •  Photography Tips

Waterfalls make for one of the best subjects for photographing long exposures. The silky-smooth look of the water gives the waterfall an ethereal look, thereby making it stand out from its surrounding. Even landscape photographer Attilio Ruffo is a fan of this technique and so, in this video, he shares some of his ideas to help you take long-exposure photos of waterfalls:

If you need any sort of inspiration to get started with shooting long-exposure waterfall photographs, you’re in for a treat.  Ruffo starts by sharing some of the majestic waterfall photos that he’s previously taken. You can surely draw inspiration from them.

Further in the video, he also shares the considerations that he makes when composing his shot. Just having the waterfall appear magical won’t cut it. All the other elements in the frame play a very important role to make the overall image stand out.

And once you sort out your composition, it’s the camera settings that you’ll have to seriously consider. What settings you choose, especially the shutter speed plays a pivotal role in determining whether your final image is a hit or a miss. While it’s common knowledge that having a longer exposure gives that silky smooth effect to the water, it’s equally important that you hit that sweet spot. Unnecessarily long shutter speed obliterates any detail in the water; something that you’d want to avoid. And using a shutter speed that’s too fast won’t give that ethereal look to the image.

“When I set my base exposure, I always use aperture priority. When I’m taking my long exposure , I move to manual mode.”

Also, keep in mind that it is perfectly fine if you don’t nail the shot in one go. As Ruffo does it in the video, it is a good practice to review the image continuously. Change the settings if you’re not happy with the results and try again.

And finally, there’s additional equipment that you can use to make your long-exposure waterfall images stand out better. They include a polarizer and some neutral density (ND) filters. Since these filters alter the exposure, you’d want to check out how Ruffo calculates his camera settings in the video. If you’re new to using the filters, his technique will help you out a lot.

If you enjoy seeing long-exposure waterfall photos and want to photograph something similar, be sure to watch the complete video. We’re sure Ruffo’s tips will help you out in your next landscape photography outing.