My wife and I took a ride this morning into the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area in Northeastern Pennsylvania in search of some waterfalls to photograph. I knew waterfalls could be tricky but I didn’t realize just how tricky until I got home and uploaded my 209 images onto my iMac and started culling images. By the time I finished culling the images that just didn’t work for one reason or another, I ended up with just 44 “keepers” and they aren’t necessarily “pin-up” worthy.
Our first stop was at the Dingmans Falls area. A very short, easy walk over a manmade boardwalk brought us to our first waterfall of the day – Silverthread Falls. This waterfall is 80 feet high and very narrow. I believe this type of waterfall is called a horsetail. Being in a heavily shaded area, it was fairly easy to photograph using my Canon 30D and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens with a Singh-Ray Vari-ND adjustable neutral density filter; tripod-mounted. This was the longest exposure of the day at 10 sec @ f/10: ISO 100; 0 EV; FL 24mm.
A little further along the boardwalk, we came to Dingmans Falls – a beautiful falls about 130 feet in height. Unfortunately, this falls was directly in the path of some very intense morning sunlight making good exposures very difficult. After several attempts at making images in the direct sunlight, I resorted to waiting patiently (my wife not so much) for the small clouds to pass in front of the sun and offer up some respite for shooting. This image was shot with the same set up as mentioned above and at 0.8 sec @ f/14; ISO 100; 0 EV; FL 24mm.
After Dingmans, we head back to the car and drove on several miles to Raymondskill Falls. This is the highest falls in Pennsylvania at 180 feet and is just four feet shorter than Niagara. Unfortunately, you cannot go all the way down to the base of the falls. The short but relatively rugged trails only take you to an observation area near the first plunge pool about 60 feet below the top of the falls. Here I was faced with a steady stream of bright sunlight and no clouds to help out. The best I could do, even with the Vari-ND, was 1/13 sec and you can see that the water isn’t quite as silky smooth as in the other two images.
That was it for today, my friends. Hope you enjoyed sharing our little day trip as much as I enjoyed bringing you along.
Your photos are great as always Ed, and the falls are so beautiful and so much different from the ones we have in this area. I can’t get over how free from brush the watercourses are!
Comment by montucky — July 18, 2009 @ 11:38 pm
I drove through that area by mistake once. I missed a turn somewhere in PA on my way back from Maryland. What a delightful place. I stopped in that town and walked the streets, looked in some shops and bought a neat coffee mug. Best mistake I’d ever made! Now you have me ready to go back to find the waterfalls.
Comment by Cedar — July 19, 2009 @ 6:34 am