Over the course of visiting Michigan’s wonderful Upper Peninsula during a span of twenty years to lead workshops and to do my own work, I do not recall a single year that we did not take a group to Bond Falls, a state-owned property just on the edge of Ottawa Nationl Forest on the Middle Branch of the Ontonagon River.
While the main falls is the spectacular draw, the upper cataract has always more strongly attracted me for its amazing reflections that one must learn when and how to approach for the best results.
Two dear friends and fellow photographers, Bob and Gloria Epperson, both long-passed, shared the upper cataract with me many years ago, and I have always been grateful for their gift.
A focal length of 200mm, solid medium telephoto-land, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted along with some compression and magnification. An aperture of f/14 provided depth-of-field and the illusion of sharpness in the moving water; and with a shutter speed of 1/20 second at ISO 800 gave me an overall somewhat lighter-than-medium exposure.
Notice that the chosen aperture (14) is 1 1/3 stops wider than f/22 and the ISO (800) is 3 stops lighter than my preferred, less noisy, 100. This meant that I was able to slow the speed of the flow by nearly 5 stops in order to reduce the surface tension on the stiller/quieter, upper water in order to make the reflection that much sharper to the eye.
I offer this Image in celebration of National Forest Week. Our national forests are national treasures. They are public lands without peer and they remain for us to enjoy only as long as we are willing to preserve them from wanton cutting and destruction. May we have them always.
we have been to this exact location several times, this same small rapid, but wondering if the colors in the water are more computer generated, or a magical light show….
Hi Bill. Thank you very much for joining me for this conversation. While I truly appreciate your thoughts and comments, they would indicate that you do not know me very well, which is certainly understandable. Throughout my career I have chosen to be a post-processing minimalist, which is not to say that I never touch my RAW files, but that I choose to spend the least amount of time possible in processing to achieve my vision for any number of reasons too long to lay out here.
Recall that in the description I said, “…that one must learn when and how to approach for the best results.”
Many years ago I learned the joys of effective scouting and I emphasize it in every workshop I lead. I have scouted this cataract every year that I photographed it, some 18 times now, and I have learned the optimal days during the fall foliage cycle and the optimal time of the day to be at this location. The only point of “luck” in the process is whether the day is sunny or overcast, but even then, if I am fortunate enough to be able to return during the color range cycle, I may still encounter an excellent opportunity. John Shaw taught me many years ago that it’s seldom about luck and much more often about knowledge. I hope that’s a helpful answer. Walk in Beauty.
i thought i had sent this reply earlier, so shall resend again……
we have been to this exact spot, the upper cascades many times, and i am curious, did you capture these bright colors via your computer/photoshop, or were you so lucky to witness a magical color collaboration……..???
Hi Bill,
Your original comment did post, so I offer my above response again. Take good care.
Thank you Don, for giving me some more to think about when shooting water features. I have tended to stick to 1/4 sec to 2 sec for most waterfalls to get a nice silky look, but just a slightly faster exposure adds a whole new look I hadn’t thought about.
I grew up in MI, but had never heard of Bond Falls. I’ll have to plan a fall trip up there!
Hey Jeff. It’s great to hear from you! Thanks for joining us. There are so many ways to express water that to a very real extent it becomes a matter of your vision for a particular situation. Sometimes there are technical restraints, but more often there are choices and the solution becomes a matter of understanding technical possibilities. For me, the beginning point is understanding how to read the turbidity of the water I’m photographing and assessing that in relation to my vision for the outcome.
If you’ll look on the UP map to find the route of US 45, just above the Wisconsin border you’ll find the town of Watersmeet. Go north on 45 to the community of Paulding. Turn right (East) on Bond Falls Road and go ‘til you get there. It’s about 3-4 miles. Walk in Beauty and stay safe.
This is another one of my many favorite spots on this planet. I have been blessed to have been on a couple of your workshops in the U.P. You taught us how to capture those beautiful gold and blue reflections without using a blue and gold filter; I am forever grateful for that. Thanks for sharing these wonderful places.
Hey Nancy T. The day is always bright when you join us for a discussion. Thank you for being here.
It’s my life that has been blessed by the presence of you in it and for all the adventures you have shared with us. We have had some wonderful times in the UP and at Bond Falls in particular. When you know where to go and when to show up, magic happens, often without a filter, or at least only a little polarization. Take good care, Dear One; talk soon.
Absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for the settings and rationale too. I tend to prefer moving water to look less silky and more dynamic.
Hey Jeanne, it’s always good to hear from you. I hope you and Tom are both well. I really appreciate your very kind words. Knowing all the possible choices for the expression of a given piece of water allows you just that: choices. You can stay with what you like or you can choose to experiment. Pixels are, indeed, inexpensive.
I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed my rationale.
Stay safe and be well.
Another beautiful waterfall composition! I have a different one of yours, also one of my favorites, hanging in my living room. It’s fun to look at the two of them and compare similarities and differences, especially with your helpful discussion of parameters for this one. Thank you, Don!
Howdy Donald. You are a bit like Gandalf, my friend, you seem to show up just when I’m thinking about you. I trust you are well.
When I did the one for you, I had not yet created this one. This one came from the last workshop we did in the UP, October of ‘19, just before the pandemic. It was a wonderful adventure. Wish you had been with us.
Glad you appreciated the technical rationale. Stay safe and walk in Beauty.
Thanks, again, Everyone for joining me for this discussion. I’m delighted that you thought the technical comments I offered were pertinent and useful. The creative process in photography is a profound experience in which something within each of us is called forth to be given a life that is both technical and artistic; and we are asked to take up the tools at our disposal – cameras and lenses, primarily – and use them to give substance and form to the presence we are holding within us. The skill with which we utilize those tools and the vision we hold within together determine the response others will give to what we have done. Perhaps it is only the medium of photography that combines technical knowledge and vision to such an intricate level of conjunction.
Have an excellent week and walk in Beauty.
Don, thanks for this amazing image, for your notes on it, and for mentioning National Forest Week. The mirror-like surface and the happy Z pattern provide much to contemplate. What a gift your friends Bob and Gloria provided; they could not possibly imagine the subsequent outpouring of gifts you would share from becoming acquainted with that beautiful spot.