Unless you plan on wading out in a foot of frigid water to get this type of shot, I wouldn’t plan on making the trek until the water level starts to drop. The water level is so high that the rocky beach is almost completely underwater. I have never seen the water level in the gorge this high since I started hiking the gorge over 20 years ago. As you can see from this photo, Punchbowl Falls is beyond swelled. In order for me to get this shot I had to take off my socks and shoes and wade out in about a foot of water before I could get a clear shot. The water is moving pretty fast so you need to steady your tripod as firmly as possible and hope that it doesn’t move. In case I did lose my footing and found myself swimming in the frigid creek I made sure to leave my photography bag, with all of my other lenses, at the safety of the creeks edge. The creek was so cold that after about 30 minutes I completely lost feeling in both of my legs from the knees down. The pebbles and rocks that you are forced to stand on are pretty jagged and hard but once my feet became numb I lost all feeling and was forced to rely on my tripod to steady myself as I scrambled back to the edge. Next time I will bring my Teva’s so I don’t have this problem again. Though the vegetation is starting to spring there are still several plants that still haven’t bloomed as well as several of the old growth trees that have only just begun to show their buds. This created a challenge since I wanted to take advantage of the swelling creeks and waterfalls but not include any of the shots with the bare vegetation. The harsh winter and cool and rainy spring has really made it tough on the gorge this year. The wildflowers are even somewhat confused. Several of the flowers are growing along the high cliffs but most of the wildflowers that grow along the creeks are barely out. I chose this shot in order to show just how much water was thundering over the falls as well as ensure there were no bare branches. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch in order to avoid any camera shake. This was especially difficult since the tripod was in the middle of the fast moving creek. I attached my ND8, warming filter and CIR-PL so I could have the camera in Shutter Priority mode. The focal length was at 21mm and I had the shutter open for 5 seconds. The aperture was at F-13 and I set the ISO to 100 and the white balance at -0.7. I spent about 45 minutes in the creek so I had plenty of time to adjust the focal length and the shutter speed and white balance but I was forced to basically just adjust and shoot as quickly as possible. The morning and afternoon was overcast so the sky was perfectly covered and it never even tried to rain. The trees should start blooming within the next week so I hope that my next trip here will offer more color but still plenty of water.
Tag Archives: Punchbowl Falls
Punchbowl Falls, OR
[/caption] Punchbowl Falls may be one of the most photographed waterfalls in Oregon but when you have a view like this it’s not hard to see why. Whenever I find myself hiking to Punchbowl Falls I know that if the weather is right I can spend hours there as well as take hundreds of photos within a 25 foot area. I normally wade out into the frigid waters and position myself in the most precarious ways in order to get the most dynamic photo possible as well as get a photo that hasn’t already been duplicated 500 times. Late Spring or early Summer is the best time to visit since the vegetation isn’t in full bloom until later and the water level is at it’s highest when it’s warming up in the mountains. You also want to make sure that you visit on a cloudy and rainy day in order to eliminate any glare from the water. I normally try to set my shutter priority between 4-6 seconds in order to get the flowing movement of the waterfall without getting too much movement of the vegetation. This photo was taken on 6/29/11 and it was about 11:30am. I was fortunate to be here when it was completely overcast and it started to rain as I waded out in the creek with my tripod in hand. The water was about 39 degrees so I lost all feeling in my feet and legs since I spent about 30 minutes shooting the waterfall. I set the shutter speed at 4 seconds and had the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -1.7. The aperture was at F-10 since I had attached my ND4, warming filter and CIR-PL. I wanted to get more of the rocks laying on the bottom of the creek so I lowered my tripod and tilted my camera towards the ground at about a 60 degree angle. This allowed me to get a great shot of the small rocks without losing my field of view of the background. I set the focal length at 23mm, which was just enough to ensure the view of the waterfall and vegetation were in focus but parts of the foreground were somewhat distorted and out of focus. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t leave anything out in this photo.
Punchbowl Falls at Eagle Creek, OR
[/caption] I was finally able to pick the perfect day to visit Punchbowl falls. The day was overcast and there was a light sprinkle as I photographed the waterfall. The neon green vegetation was at its peak as I was able to gently wade out to the middle of the creek so I could get in to the best possible position as I photographed the waterfall. The creek wasn’t as full or nearly as cold from the last time I visited this same spot. I even made sure to bring my pair of Teva sandals so I could have an easier time navigating the rocks below as well as the swift current. This was by far one of the most epic times to visit the falls since there was no other hikers and I was able to move almost anywhere along the creek before setting up my tripod. With the water level still very high and the amount of water thundering over the falls you probably haven’t seen this much water going over Punch bowl falls in a while. The water was absolutely piercing as it raged over the falls. I was also surprised that I was able to pretty much set up my tripod anywhere along the creek without the fast moving water causing my tripod to move as I set the shutter priority to 4 seconds at a time. My 11 month old Australian Cattle dog puppy was having a good time chasing small sticks and drinking in the creek as I took photos. I was using my Sigma 17-70mm lens and attached my ND8, CIR-PL and my warming filter in order to get the correct blur effect without having too much overexposure. I had the camera mode in shutter priority so the aperture was set at F-11 since I also had the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -1. Since it was sprinkling the whole time I was forced to wipe my lens after every shot since I was setting the shutter priority at 4 seconds each time I took a photo. I took this particular photo at about 11:10am and the sun was pretty much non existent due to the cloudy skies. The waterfalls does create a strong glare in the foreground so you have to watch how you place your camera. I had the focal length at 28mm and I was standing about 50 yards from the waterfall.
Punchbowl Falls, OR
[/caption] Unless you plan on wading out in a foot of frigid water to get this type of shot I wouldn’t plan on making the trek until the water level starts to drop. The water level is so high that the rocky beach is almost completely underwater. I have never seen the water level in the gorge this high since I started hiking the gorge over 20 years ago. As you can see from this photo Punchbowl Falls is beyond swelled. In order for me to get this shot I had to take off my socks and shoes and wade out in about a foot of water before I could get a clear shot of the falls. The water is moving pretty fast so you need to steady your tripod as firmly as possible and hope that it doesn’t move. In case I did lose my footing and found myself swimming in the frigid creek I made sure to leave my photography bag, with all of my other lenses, at the safety of the creeks edge. The creek was so cold that after about 30 minutes I completely lost feeling in both of my legs from the knees down. The pebbles and rocks that you are forced to stand on are pretty jagged and hard but once my feet became numb I lost all feeling and was forced to rely on my tripod to steady myself as I scrambled back to the edge. Next time I will bring my Teva’s so I don’t have this problem again. Though the vegetation is starting to spring there are still several plants that still haven’t bloomed as well as several of the old growth trees that have only just begun to show their buds. This created a challenge since I wanted to take advantage of the swelling creeks and waterfalls but not include any of the shots with the bare vegetation. The harsh winter and cool and rainy spring has really made it tough on the gorge this year. The wildflowers are even somewhat confused. Several of the flowers are growing along the high cliffs but most of the wildflowers that grow along the creeks are barely out. I chose this shot in order to show just how much water was thundering over the falls as well as ensure there were no bare branches. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch in order to avoid any camera shake. This was especially difficult since the tripod was in the middle of the fast moving creek. I attached my ND8, warming filter and CIR-PL so I could have the camera in Shutter Priority mode. The focal length was at 58mm and I had the shutter open for 4 seconds. The aperture was at F-16 and I set the ISO to 100 and the white balance at -0.7. I spent about 45 minutes in the creek so I had plenty of time to adjust the focal length and the shutter speed and white balance but I was forced to basically just adjust and shoot as quickly as possible. The morning and afternoon was overcast so the sky was perfectly covered and it never even tried to rain. The trees should start blooming within the next week so I hope that my next trip here will offer more color but still plenty of water.