Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls…

A couple of weeks ago I took a class from a local photographer about photographing waterfalls.

I’m a beginner at the photography, so I’m taking classes wherever I can.  This one was great for me because I’m such a water baby anyway.  We started off just trying to get our bearings.  It was an unfortunately sunny day, which is not optimal for waterfall photos since you use a much slower shutter speed.

We hiked in the hills behind the Squaw Valley Ski Resort, which is absolutely beautiful.  It was a steep hike in places for a fat girl with bad feet, especially when her class partner was a geologist and so could climb the boulders like a damn mountain goat, but it was great to get out in the woods and fresh air.

It’s ironic that the sun worked against me so much this day, because usually I am a total whore for a sunny day.  Still I learned a lot, and had a great teacher.  I hope to take more classes with her in the future.

We crossed over to the other side of the creek for these photos.  Unfortunately it was the more popular side for hikers and inconsiderate people who think that being in the woods negates leash laws.  Don’t get me started on unleashed dogs in public areas! I almost lost all my gear in the river due to an over-exuberant rottweiler.

This photo would have been infinitely cooler with some cloud cover, but it’s still a pretty falls.

Now THAT’S what they’re supposed to look like!  This is easily my favorite shot of the day since we had almost perfect conditions.

This class made me thankful I splurged on a good tripod, although after hefting it over the river and through the woods I wished I had opted for the carbon fiber model.  I was also thankful for my back back camera bag, and if I get more into the hiking I will probably invest in a better one.

It was a great day, even if I didn’t get a lot of truly stellar shots.  I learned a lot and I’ll go up there again by myself to see if I can do it unsupervised.   Meanwhile, I’m hunting for more classes!