waterfalls

Narada Falls in Mount Rainier National Park

Narada Falls during Summer in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, USA.

view of narada falls in mount rainier national park

View of Narada Falls (Purchase)

A few weeks ago I visited Mount Rainier National Park in the hopes of viewing a full display of wildflowers at the Paradise area of the Park. Unfortunately, this was not to be as clouds obscured the mountain from the Paradise side and most of the Tatoosh Range for the duration of my stay. However, I did come away with many photographs I am quite happy with. As is the case with many of my visits to the park, the weather has changed my plans – but as always there are all manner of great things to photograph near Rainier. I was fortunate to be at Rainier during the same time as photographers Rob Tilley and Gary Hamburgh. After we met up at Paradise we decided that a trip to Narada Falls would be better than dealing with the clouds at Paradise.

narada falls in mount rainier national park

Narada Falls in Detail (Purchase)

I have always found the short walk down to Narada Falls to be worth it regardless of the weather. I don’t always photograph there but I found the lower water levels of a few weeks ago photographically interesting. They also came with much less spray to keep off of my lenses and camera. After trying a successful experiment at Eureka Falls I’ve been using my 70-200mm lens to focus on the details of many waterfalls I have encountered. I still enjoying the overall view of a waterfall, but sometimes cutting out the extraneous details can be a more visually pleasing photograph.

Christine Falls Triptych from Mount Rainier NP

Christine Falls on Van Trump Creek in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, USA

christine falls triptych in mount rainer national park washington state

Christine Falls Triptych (Purchase)

   When I originally made this series of photographs of Christine Falls in Mount Rainier National Park I had intended to stitch them into a vertical panorama (vertorama). Displaying regular, horizontal panoramas is tough – the vertical variety is even more difficult. Upon actually stitching these together the results were a bit lacking, and displaying them individually seemed out of context without the other two. So I’ve tried making them into the triptych you see above. I haven’t done this before, but I think it works well with these 3 images. Do you think I was successful with this attempt? Do you ever shoot images specifically for this sort of presentation?

Eureka Falls in Detail

Eureka Falls flowing into Silverhope Creek near Hope, British Columbia.

eureka falls in spring

Eureka Falls near Silver Lake Provincial Park

   Last May I traveled back from Kelowna through Manning Provincial Park. In Manning I was driving mostly through a rainstorm but it cleared just as I came down the mountains into Hope, BC. I decided to check out Silver Lake Provincial Park and shot some really nice post storm photos of Silver Lake itself. I spent much more time photographing Silver Creek though. Last winter did not produce much of a snow pack (remember the Olympics having troubles with snow on Cypress Mountain?) but 2011 has been very different. Consequently there is much more water in the creek this year – which I should probably have expected ahead of time considering how much snow still shows in the mountains.

   The first photo is a “close up” shot of Eureka Falls – a bit wider take on the panorama below. These falls are pretty easy to get to – they are right on the side of the road. Unfortunately, (as you can see in my shots of this area last year) Silverhope Creek runs between the road and Eureka Falls. At this time of year the river is really roaring (or I presume, as I’ve not seen it any other time of year) and I have not been willing to go down the bank near it. The river is running fast enough, and the rocks large enough, that being swept away would mean I would not be coming back to this spot. I do hope to return later in the Summer or maybe Fall to see if the water levels are lower and the bank more accessible so I can get some different angles on the falls themselves. I am also hoping that Eureka Falls is not a seasonal waterfall and actually exists with lower water levels.

eureka falls near hope bc
Detailed panorama of Eureka Falls flowing into Silverhope Creek near Hope, British Columbia.

   Last night I ventured out into this area again – this “panorama” of Eureka Falls is so far my favourite of the bunch, though my judgement is always questionable this soon after a shot is taken.

What do you think? Does this shot work for you?

Bridal Veil Falls & Bridal Creek

Fall color at Bridal Veil Falls in Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park, Chilliwack, BC.

fall foliage colors at bridal falls provincial park in chilliwack bc

Fall at Bridal Falls (Purchase)

   I have always liked Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park. My parents used to take me there when I was a kid sometimes when we would venture this far out into the Fraser Valley. I remember the hike to the falls being the longest most arduous journey ever. Now it takes me about 6 minutes – though the sign says be prepared for a 15 minute hike. I don’t know who those people are, but I guess if you had to take it slow it could take that long.

   On this particular day I was heading out to Hope, BC and planning on driving back through Harrison Mills on Highway 7. I stopped at the falls because the overcast sky was much better for photographing here than the direct sunlight I am used to finding in this location. So I setup and shot a few of the lower falls, very minor, waterfalls along Bridal Creek before heading up to the main Bridal Veil Falls waterfall. As soon as I arrived the skies opened up with a solid rain so this shot here is one of the few that did not succumb to the pitfalls of shooting in the rain and the spray from the falls themselves.

small waterfall at bridal falls provincial park in chilliwack bc

Small waterfall beside Bridal Falls (Purchase)

   You can not see them in this shot but there are a few teenagers further up just beside the falls who, being somewhat drunken from the looks of things, decided that it would be a good idea to start rolling small boulders down the hill towards the viewing platform and another photographer who was shooting from there. Dodging rocks is usually when I decide to call it a day so I will be back next fall, hopefully with a bit better fall colour and nicer weather – and fewer rocks!

More photographs from this location can be found in my Bridal Falls Provincial Park Gallery.

Christine Falls in Mount Rainier National Park

Christine Falls on Van Trump Creek in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, USA

christine falls in mount rainier national park
-print available-

This is Christine Falls in Mt. Rainier National Park. The last time I stopped to photograph Christine Falls, Mount Rainier National Park was quite busy and there was a considerable lineup for the viewpoint. This time (in mid October) there were few people around and I could take all the time I wanted. Much more relaxing than having in the back of your mind that people are lined up waiting for your spot. The water level was also a bit lower on this occasion which I think yielded a nicer shot and let the blue colour of the water show through better.

Silverhope Creek & Eureka Falls

Eureka Falls flows into Silverhope Creek just outside the Silver Lake Provincial Park boundary.

eureka falls along silverhope creek

I am not completely sure that the name Eureka Falls is the official name of this waterfall, but I had seen it called Eureka Falls in a few places before naming it such here. I’ve asked a few people how they came by the name when I saw them use it and they cited ME as where they got the name. I guess this is how names of things get started!

These first two photos came from my first attempt at using my new ND filter (B+W 77mm #106 Neutral Density 1.8). Very glad I added this filter to my bag!

silverhope creek

The overcast yet bright evening gave me great lighting for these shots. The waterfall pictured is Eureka Falls (or IS it? 😉 ).

silverhope creek at silver lake provincial park silverhope creek near silver lake provincial park

eureka falls on silverhope creek silverhope creek near silver lake provincial park eureka falls at silverhope creek