And the water falls up or Protecting your Gear in wet conditions

This past weekend, I went with friends to the Columbia River Gorge - a world of history, forests and waterfalls. The Gorge, as photographers call it (unlike The Gorge in Eastern Washington that is famous for summer concerts) is a must-do destination for anyone wanting to photograph all types of waterfalls. The most famous and iconic of the gorge waterfalls is Multonomah Falls. But there are other beautiful falls along both sides of the Gorge.

The waterfalls on the Oregon side have easier access, most are right along the old historic Columbia River Highway. The falls on the Washington side require a little bit more driving and hiking. But waterfalls are one of those subjects that inspire and challenge us as photographers. Sometimes that is just worth a little extra effort.

However, my friends and I stayed on the Oregon side of the Gorge, to photograph some of the more accessible waterfalls. Only problem was, our 20% chance of rain for the day turned into 100% chance. Normally, cloudy days are ideal for photographing waterfalls - the soft light helps to diminish blown-out areas in the water and softens shadows. Plus the softer light can aid in a longer shutter speed to create the silky look of waterfalls.

The problem with rainy days is keeping the mechanics of your camera dry. Waterfalls do have the added discomfort of spray. Which goes everywhere. The force of the water falling and hitting the pool below causes a wind which carries the spray onto your lens. So keeping your camera dry on just an overcast day is difficult add to it rain falling down and what you have is an inconvenient mess.

Heading out to a photo session with waterfalls requires that you come prepared to keep yourself and your camera dry. Those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest know the value of layers and a good rain coat and pants.

But what do we do with our cameras?

There are several little tricks. A rainsleeve for your camera (that you can buy at any camera store) is probably one of the best ideas I have seen for northwest weather. They cost about $6 to a whopping $50. I have also used ziplock bags and shower caps to help protect the camera body. Another ingenious idea is to clamp an umbrella to your tripod - just be careful on those long exposures, the wind can catch the umbrella and shake the tripod resulting in an unsatisfactory image. Each of these allows for the lens to have a clean view of your subject matter.

Yet with waterfalls spraying water everywhere, what do you do to protect the front of the lens? I generally carry a lens cleaning cloth to wipe down the lens between exposures then immediately cover the lens with a sandwich bag. I will take several of the same exposure and one usually comes out without too much spray on the lens which can easily be cloned out in photoshop.

You just have to be patient, release the shutter between breezes, and ready to take several images of the same exposure and compositions. And this is where your layers and rain gear will come in handy to keep you warm and dry.

Slicker than Snot

Latourell Falls, 2 miles, 3/23/08

Step, slip, glurp. Euw! Step, slip, glurp. Euw! Step, slip, glurp. Euw! Sometimes, thinking about the weather and location, and what they might all do to a trail would be a good thing to do before heading out on a short hike to see a waterfall in your jeans and sandals. I had let Olympia trot ahead of me as we climbed up the hill - all I needed was a tug the wrong way and to slip again and for the second time that day be covered in mud. Then again, as I looked down at my feet, I might have to do that anyway. Olympia, happy to be hiking splattered mud onto her legs, tail, belly, neck, and is that mud on her forehead? This better be a damn pretty waterfall.

I had tried to be careful as I trudged up the hill - stepping in what looked like solid patches of ground. But it didn't take much time before mud was squishing between my toes. To make matters worse, I would have to walk back down that muddy hill! Then the mileage I thought I read turned out to be twice as much and I wondered if my journey would ever end.

That's when I heard it - the unmistakable roar of a cascading river, thick with spring melt. Turn a corner and there it was, a beautiful horsetail falls dropping over 100 feet to the pool below. Olympia played in the creek as it flowed from the pool while snapped a few shots, playing with views and exposures. And then it was back down the muddy mess of a trail carefully stepping around the biggest mudholes. Although I could have gone barefoot, it would have been less mud grinding into the soles of my feet.

A quick trip to the bottom of Latourell Falls finished off our hike. One last word - the towel I had brought for Olympia on the trip was truly mudfilled and it was only the second day of our trip.