A friend who knows I love the outdoors and photography suggested I visit the Kugler Woods Waterfall in Stockton, New Jersey. I found excellent information on The Outbound website. The waterfall is tiny, but I got some fantastic long-exposure shots on my iPhone 6 (using the Pro Cam app) and Nikon DSLR. I think the flow of water is dependent on the amount of rainfall. I will visit again when the spring rains start.
Kugler Woods Waterfall | Nikon D5200 | AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
The best light is most likely the blue hour at the end of the day. I don't know this for sure, but given that the waterfall faces west, the late evening light will illuminate the water.
Getting close to the water with the lens was challenging. The rocks were slippery from the moisture, which in this case was ice. Did I mention it was cold?
I struggled with the long exposure. I used my AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens for all the images. Because the lens focus ring only works in manual mode, I focused with the lens in auto-mode, locked in the exposure readings, switched the lens to manual, and then carefully attached a ten-stop Hoya Pro 52mm 1000x Neutral Density Filter. I had to do this for every capture. I'm saving up either the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX II Digital Zoom Lens or the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM FLD AF Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens. I haven't decided which lens to buy. From what I read on Lensrentals, the Tokina has better image quality than the Sigma. But the Sigma is wider.
I started with 30 seconds, but I think 60 seconds worked best for the time of day. I tried doing some long-exposure HDR as well. The images here are all HDR images with exposure times between 2 and 30 seconds. The exposures were combined in Photomatix Pro 5.
Kugler Woods Waterfall | Nikon D5200 | AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Falling Water - Island in the Net
8th June 2017 at 7:34 AM[…] waterfalls. I woke up Saturday morning trying to decide if I should make the one hour drive to Kugler Woods waterfalls or stay close to home and visit the Rock Brook to get an updated photo for the monthly […]
Khürt Williams
14th May 2017 at 2:30 PMNIKON D5100 @ 85mm , ISO 4500 , 1/1000s , ƒ/5.6 on 13 May, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Khürt L. Williams
I do almost all my photography on the weekend. It’s the only time I have to get outside into the woods at dawn and dusk.
The weather soothsayer had predicted rain for the weekend. Cold rain. All of Saturday and Sunday. The sky was grey and the weather felt more like fall than spring.
I had several ideas for this challenge. There was obvious; falling water means waterfalls. I woke up Saturday morning trying to decide if I should make the one hour drive to Kugler Woods waterfalls or stay close to home and visit the Rock Brook to get an updated photo for the monthly photo challenge.
NIKON D5100 @ 85mm , ISO 6400 , 1/1250s , ƒ/5.6 on 13 May, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Khürt L. Williams
My daughter was performing in the pit crew for a musical, Seussical, at the high school. I dropped her off and drove over to the Rock Book to scope out the situation. The last time it rained this much, the brook was filled to the edges and we had a flash flood warning for the area. The water was gushing but I was still able to walk down to my favourite spot.
Perhaps I could capture some long exposures of the water before the brook filled up. But I had forgotten the Tokina 11-16mm f/4 lens and Hoya ND1000 filter at home. I pulled out my iPhone 7. I could use ProCam in Slow Shutter mode for long exposures. But I’d need a tripod and I had also forgotten the Manfrotto PIXI. I propped my iPhone 7 against some rocks and snapped two shots before I panicked that the rain might damage my iPhone. I was nearly soaked through when I got back to the car.
NIKON D5100 @ 85mm , ISO 800 , 1/640s , ƒ/1.8 on 13 May, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Khürt L. Williams
I had some other ideas. I attempted to shoot raindrops falling and splashing off the pavement. I tried a number of shutter speeds. I stepped into the street near my home and put my Nikon D5100 on the PIXI and fired off a few shots. A few cars drove by. I must have seemed strange stooped over in the rain, getting soaked, and seemingly taking photos of the asphalt.
I experimented with shutter speed. I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Did I want to suspend water drops in the air? Did I want a blur of water drops?
Let me know what you think.
Created by photographer Frank Jansen, the Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography.
Rick
9th March 2016 at 5:49 AMI visited the Falls earlier in February, water from the falls more abundant. We need to follow up after a good rain, remember to bring a good pair of hip boots.
Khürt Williams
9th March 2016 at 6:47 AMHi Rick, it was great hanging out with you at Whitesbog Village. I will definitely order a pair of boots for my next trip to visit water.
Ed Velez
8th March 2016 at 7:51 PMYou are a better man than I to venture out in the cold! I have yet to really get my Tamron 28-300 on a long exposure outing. But its getting warmer and there are some trips I would like to take and get my lo-ex on.
Khürt Williams
9th March 2016 at 6:44 AMHi Ed. As you know, I really dislike cold. But ... I had to test out the Hoya Pro 1000x Neutral Density Filter and after being stuck inside for the winter ... I needed this. I wish you had joined us for the Whitesbog photowalk. It was a gorgeous day. Next up for me is the Annual Photografriends Cherry Blossoms at Fairmount Horticultural Center.