12 Sep
2010

Posted in: Mt. Rainier
By Ian Plant    7 Comments

Spray Falls, Mt. Rainier National Park

Spray Falls in Mt. Rainier National Park is located on the popular trail to Spray Park, a high alpine meadow filled with ponds and wildflowers. I made two visits to Spray Falls during my recent Mt. Rainier trip, once on a sunny day on my way up to Spray Park, and once on a rainy day a few days later (Spray Park turned out to be past peak for wildflowers but at peak for mosquitoes, so I had no interest in making a second trip up there). Sunny weather was less than ideal for the waterfall on my first visit—although a lovely rainbow did form in the mist below the falls, unfortunately I was there too late in the day, as I suspect the rainbow would have been stronger and higher up in a more attractive part of the falls if I had been there earlier—so I jumped at the chance to go back and photograph this elegant falls in drizzly conditions. As I talk about in detail in my new eBook Five Landscape Challenges, rainy weather is great for photographing waterfalls, as it not only increases water flow, but also wets down rocks and foliage. When you use a polarizer filter to photograph wet surfaces, glare disappears, revealing any color underneath in brilliant detail.

"Spray Falls" - Mt. Rainier

This image required me to don chest waders and climb into freezing cold waist deep water, precariously close to a seven foot drop below me. I had tried at first to wade into the water without chest waders, but the glacially-chilled flow sent me into mild shock within seconds. With waders on, I plunged in and selected a position right beneath a large cascading rapid, which I used as my foreground. If your lens isn’t getting wet, you’re not close enough—that’s my motto when it comes to waterfall photography! By getting close I was able to create a dramatic “in your face” composition that gives the viewer a sense of the power of the water. A dry cloth or two to wipe spray from the lens is essential for an image such as this.

After making an image, I waded back to shore, where I realized I had forgotten to set my focus. Rookie mistake! So I went back a second time, choosing the same camera angle, and made another image. When I got back to shore, I noticed that my lens was completely covered in spray, so I was sure that my second shot was ruined as well. Rookie mistake number two! So I went back again, and as the saying goes, the third time’s the charm. Except when it isn’t. Another rookie mistake made—I can’t even remember what it was—so I went back a fourth time, then a fifth, before I finally got it right. Make that many rookie mistakes in one day, you get sent back down to the minor leagues! Lucky for me I’m a pro photographer, not a pro baseball player, so no one was watching me make blunder upon blunder.

The moral of this story? Even when things aren’t going your way, whether because conditions aren’t quite right, or simply because you are acting like a drunk monkey, don’t give up. And by all means, never walk away from a good shot with anything less than your very best effort—even if it means setting up and taking the same photograph five times in a row! 

More From Ian Plant Dreamscapes

• Mt. Rainier wildflowers on Mazama Ridge
• Carter Falls, Mt. Rainier National Park
• Rainbow Falls, Adirondack State Park, New York

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About Ian Plant  (275 Posts)

Ian Plant's photographs and instructional articles have appeared in a number of books, calendars, and magazines, including Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography. Ian writes a regular blog column for Outdoor Photographer online, and he is the author of numerous instructional eBooks and digital processing tutorials. Ian leads several photo tours each year.