Gear for shooting waterfalls

[tumble]

I'm off to the smokey mountain region of Tennessee in 2 weeks and want to make sure I have all the stuff I need to take great pictures.

I'll be doing a lot of hiking so I decided on a monopod instead of a tripod, and presume I'll need some sort of ND or Polarizer filter as well.

Any recommendations on monopods/filters etc I'll need?

Thanks

[roanjohn]

I would probably suggest a tripod as opposed to a monopod.

Also........pray for an overcast day :-)

Ro1

[Scottes]

I would do as much as possible to take a tripod, even if it's one of the little table-top models. Many of the shots will be quite slow, and you may even have to do shots of several seconds. You may also have occasion to do bracketed shots and combine them. There have been times when I've shot waterfalls and there's been too much of a range between the highlights of the water and the shadows of the trees or rocks. So I bracketed the shots and combined them into one image.

An ND grad could be useful, though I'd think that a non-graduated ND filter would be more useful, just to get slower shutter speeds. I haven't used either myself though, but I figure that they'd both be handy.

I'd say that a polarizer is a must.

[scottbergerphoto]

Bring along a couple of big garbage bags (Lawn and Leaf are pretty good as they are thicker). You keep one or two in your bag. You can use it as ground cover to work on your gear, toss your pack into it if it rains,or cut three holes in the bottom for an instant rain coat. Saved my butt on more then one occasion.
Regards,
Scott

[Lamplight]

Definitely bring a tripod if at all possible. It will be more trouble to lug around, but a monopod will be hard to use unless you use a fast shutter speed and "freeze" the water. Also, a remote would be handy. Like this one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=70561&is=REG

I use mine all the time when taking pictures of moving water. (although some would argue I used it a little too much in a recent shot I posted. :lol: )

[tumble]

thanks everyone, think i'll look at a tripod instead then. My wife has put me on a tight budget grrrrr so i'll look at what's at B&H to go with the rest of my order.

[robertwgross]

I was on a backpack trip, and there were three of us, each with one trekking pole/walking stick. I had only a tiny tabletop tripod, so we lashed our poles together with the tiny tripod on top. That held a camera nicely for the landscape shots.

---Bob Gross---

[rcrobert]

An ND grad could be useful, though I'd think that a non-graduated ND filter would be more useful, just to get slower shutter speeds.


I agree whole heartedly with the above! Definitely will need non-graduated filters just to slow down the shutter speed. I carry a 2X and a 4X which can then be used together if need be -- all depending on how much blur you want in the water.

[Crash758]

Not what I would recommend to use all the time, but I bought Slik's Compact XL tripod for $30 on BH's site. I have used it primarily for waterfalls with my f717, however, it does and will hold my 10d with medium size glass. Just gotta be careful with it. And it is very light. You can go to my website - www.mrickardstudios.com - and look at the waterfall pictures in the photo albums. All were taken using that tripod. But like I said, the tripod is not that big and I would only use it when I am out of options.

[adamsti]

I carried around a Bogen 3021 pro and 3047 head for an entire week, hking all over the Tetons, and Yellowstone. Yes it is heavy, but worth it. As everyone has mentioned you will need long exsposures for waterfalls, so a tripod is a must.