Ramona Falls - OR

[Jason.Wuertz]

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 2.5
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire


Went to Ramona Falls yesterday and tried playing around with my new camera. I just got this Camera last friday. This is my first DSLR. I've played around with em before but this is my first one. This is also my first post on this website. I hope to learn alot here.

I've looked around at other's photos of this waterfall on Flickr and some are just fat out outstanding. What could I have done differently to get a better photo here.

There are six others from that set here:

Ramona Falls Hike - a set on Flickr

[Murtasma]

I think it's perfect I wouldn't change a thing what a magical place. To help limit diffraction next time use a smaller aperture like F11 and compensate for the increase in light by using a neutral density filter of 2 or 4 stops this should keep your shutter open long enough to blur the water but get a slightly sharper image.

Great image thanks for sharing!

[Jason.Wuertz]

Thanks for the tip. I've always thought that a higher aperture created a sharper image? This is not true always?

[coldphoenix]

Usually lenses are a bit softer wide open, but will be sharper when stopped down.

And going along with what murtasma suggested, an ND filter is always a beneficial item to carry around with you, especially when shooting waterfalls, because it cuts down on the light and really enables you to decrease the shutter speed, and get that nice soft water you have here...which is harder to achieve when theres a lot of ambient light. Not to mention, you can use ND filters in creative ways, once again to decrease the shutter speed, and get lots of movement in your photos...particularly in my experience with landscape shots, where the movement of the clouds will result in a pleasing soft effect. In other words, an ND filter is really helpful when you want to create movement with longer shutter speeds...in the middle of the day when the light would otherwise be too much.

I got so caught up in ND filters there I almost forgot to address the photo...very well done, all the elements are there, nice soft water, and also what is sometimes difficult to achieve, nice vibrant greens as well that contrast nicely with the surrounding darker rocks.

[nicotine]

I like the shot, but something is bothering me about the waterfall coming from the edge of the frame. I would have moved the top of the frame up a bit more to get the top of the waterfall in the shot too.

Other than that it looks great, nice capture.

[Jason.Wuertz]

It seems like people like this framing better:

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 2
Aperture: f/29.0
Focal Length: 36 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire