This waterfall near Breckenridge, Colorado, is one of my favorite spots for photos. It has all the makings for a variety of amazing landscape photograph compositions. It's also a favorite location for our portrait sessions and wedding elopements, as we are a husband & wife photo team always looking for perfect shooting areas.
On this particular day, we were there with clients for their elopement ceremony and part of their wedding portraits. After the sun had disappeared behind the mountains and the weather quickly turned cold, we ended the session. We stayed after as the sun dropped behind the mountain peaks, creating the ideal splashes of color in the clouds reflected in the river below.
Having been there a number of times, I already had the composition in my mind, so the set-up was quick, although the rocky perch overlooking the waterfall is fairly precarious and requires sure footing. I managed a few frames before the color in the sky waned. I was shooting 1/2 second, f/16 exposures to achieve the ideal look I wanted for the waterfall and 1/25 second, f/16 exposures to bring in the great color of the sky. The two final exposures were composited in post-production.
When the color was gone, I grabbed the 70-200 lens to get some closeup sections of the falls which also produced some great results, but this vertical composition combining all the natural elements was by far the favorite.
Photographed in the first week of September (always the most glorious month to photograph in Colorado), it added subtle warm tones to the vegetation around the falls. To make the shoot extra special, it was also our 16th wedding anniversary. As often happens, we were shooting during our anniversary weekend, and doing the work we love together is always a great bonus.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor