AlanLichty
Moderator
So Thursday I wandered off to Latourell Falls to get a water shot for the weekly contest and encountered a surprising project along the way worth a story here.
For context Latourell is a 249' waterfall that is the closest waterfall in the Gorge to the metro area I live in - 35 minute drive in good traffic from my house. I go there a lot to try things out and play since it's close. So does the rest of Portland/Vancouver. In this case for a mid December photo session you need to come prepared for winter conditions. I encountered numerous ice patches on the roads and had Yak-Trax in my camera gear in case there was ice at the base of the falls (not uncommon at all). My dashboard display showed 34 degrees F when I parked my truck. The parking lot was not empty by any means and a group of college aged coeds arrived just as I was heading up the trail. They appeared to be impressed with my camera gear and were quite enthusiastic about whatever they were about to do. I didn't really see any gear like mine in their stuff.
I wandered off to set up my shot - I knew exactly where I wanted to set my camera and planned on being able to ignore most of the folks who were wandering in and out of the falls viewpoints. I climbed down below a footbridge so I had a view looking up the stream at the base of the falls with my camera perched about 2' above the water. My setup shot to check the placement and tilt focus of my TS-E lens:
You can see someone's blue parka just to the left of the bridge but happily no one hanging out on the bridge itself. I couldn't see the group of young adults from where the camera is but they were doing something on the bank to the right of the bridge. At the base of these falls the world is in a constant state of wet. Spray from the 249' waterfall is everywhere and if left uncovered will coat your glasses, lenses, etc. At 34 F this is not a place for creature comfort and I was happy that there wasn't ice covering everything in the spray zone. I have shot this place in ice more than once.
I stood up to stretch my legs and see where people were before shooting my panorama so I could avoid them and this was the scene I saw:
Sorry for the burned out falls but this is a quick iPhone shot. It didn't sink in at first glance and then I spotted the umbrella the lady closest to the falls was holding. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. She is wearing a very short skirt and appears to modeling for the others in the group who are running back and forth carrying what look like mirrorless cameras. You can also see just how wet this area is on the surfaces of the bridge.
I got my shots and packed up to leave and they were still shooting away as I was on the trail so I took off my gloves, grabbed my phone, and squeezed off another shot:
She is barefoot no less too. This is a good 15 minutes after the earlier image so how she is able to keep standing there is entirely beyond me.
I didn't stick around to see how long they were going to keep that up but my fingers were still cold from taking my gloves off to get my shots and I drove home scratching my head over what they would have to do to warm her feet up enough to even be able to walk back out from the falls.
Whatever it takes to get the shot I suppose.....
For context Latourell is a 249' waterfall that is the closest waterfall in the Gorge to the metro area I live in - 35 minute drive in good traffic from my house. I go there a lot to try things out and play since it's close. So does the rest of Portland/Vancouver. In this case for a mid December photo session you need to come prepared for winter conditions. I encountered numerous ice patches on the roads and had Yak-Trax in my camera gear in case there was ice at the base of the falls (not uncommon at all). My dashboard display showed 34 degrees F when I parked my truck. The parking lot was not empty by any means and a group of college aged coeds arrived just as I was heading up the trail. They appeared to be impressed with my camera gear and were quite enthusiastic about whatever they were about to do. I didn't really see any gear like mine in their stuff.
I wandered off to set up my shot - I knew exactly where I wanted to set my camera and planned on being able to ignore most of the folks who were wandering in and out of the falls viewpoints. I climbed down below a footbridge so I had a view looking up the stream at the base of the falls with my camera perched about 2' above the water. My setup shot to check the placement and tilt focus of my TS-E lens:
You can see someone's blue parka just to the left of the bridge but happily no one hanging out on the bridge itself. I couldn't see the group of young adults from where the camera is but they were doing something on the bank to the right of the bridge. At the base of these falls the world is in a constant state of wet. Spray from the 249' waterfall is everywhere and if left uncovered will coat your glasses, lenses, etc. At 34 F this is not a place for creature comfort and I was happy that there wasn't ice covering everything in the spray zone. I have shot this place in ice more than once.
I stood up to stretch my legs and see where people were before shooting my panorama so I could avoid them and this was the scene I saw:
Sorry for the burned out falls but this is a quick iPhone shot. It didn't sink in at first glance and then I spotted the umbrella the lady closest to the falls was holding. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. She is wearing a very short skirt and appears to modeling for the others in the group who are running back and forth carrying what look like mirrorless cameras. You can also see just how wet this area is on the surfaces of the bridge.
I got my shots and packed up to leave and they were still shooting away as I was on the trail so I took off my gloves, grabbed my phone, and squeezed off another shot:
She is barefoot no less too. This is a good 15 minutes after the earlier image so how she is able to keep standing there is entirely beyond me.
I didn't stick around to see how long they were going to keep that up but my fingers were still cold from taking my gloves off to get my shots and I drove home scratching my head over what they would have to do to warm her feet up enough to even be able to walk back out from the falls.
Whatever it takes to get the shot I suppose.....
