We took a boat ride on Saint Mary Lake while visiting the east side of Glacier National Park in August of 2025. The wind was quite strong and the lake choppy, but the boat captain was able to bring us ashore skillfully for the short hike to Baring Falls. The falls are on Baring Creek, below the equally scenic Sunrift Gorge and just before the creek spills into the lake.
Our stay was brief, just enough time to view the falls, determine a few good camera positions, and take photos. The afternoon light was bright, but the falls were in the shade and evenly lit. I tried several long exposures handheld, looking for smoothing of the water while retaining a bit of detail in the flow. It was possible to retain detail in the darker areas of the scene without burning out the highlights in the water or the sky. The scene was fairly dark straight out of the camera, and I made minimal edits in post, just enough to preserve the soft contrast and subtle lighting in the cascade, surrounding plants, and dark stones.
