It started raining on Thursday. I heard rain every time I woke up Friday night. The fake river in our back yard was flooded on Saturday morning. I decided it was time to get some waterfall pictures and headed for Willow Creek. It was still sprinkling. I couldn't find a poncho but I did take an umbrella. I figured I would need to hold it over the camera while taking pictures. Turns out it was raining hard enough that I used it the whole time I was out there. Too bad I don't have a video of myself trying to get through palo verdes with that umbrella. I'm sure it would be entertaining.
Light rain, but I'm determined to get some pictures. A short time after I took this picture I realized that the tripod was still in the truck. Well, at least I found a way around the mud on the way back.
As soon as I started down the trail, I could see water flowing in the stream that would eventually become the waterfall. Other streams joined it along the way. When I started the descent to Willow Creek, I could hear a pretty loud roar coming from Willow Creek.
Water flowing in Willow Creek. Taking pictures while trying to keep an umbrella over the camera is not easy. I eventually tried sticking the handle in my pants and that mostly worked.
First picture of a waterfall.
I had the polarizing filter on the lens and it was gloomy enough that I could get long exposures without using a neutral density filter, which is a good thing since I have decided they are too pricey for me and I'm too lazy to carry them around and put them on anyway. Most of the pictures were made with a 1 second exposure. My tripod is really wobbly so I had to use a 10 second delay to give the camera time to quit shaking after pushing the shutter release. Every now and then the wind would pick up and I didn't realize until later that it blew tiny drops of water around the umbrella and onto the filter.
Water drops on the filter.
The only thing I had that I could use to wipe off the drops was the flannel shirt that I was wearing. It was a little damp from walking past trees and bushes, but it worked.
I took lots of pictures down near Willow Creek, but what I thought would be the best part of the waterfall was up higher and couldn't be seen from where I was. I had tried climbing the opposite bank to get a view of it before but that was a lot of work and I never did get a good view. The only think to do was to try to get a view of it from up top, on the west side of the waterfall.
The best part of the waterfall is out of view, above and to the left of this. I need to be on that cliff at the top of the picture.
I had to get on the edge of the cliff to have a view of the waterfall. I don't like being on cliff edges. Especially cliff edges coated with soil loosened by rain. I moved very slowly. Fortunately, the wind didn't blow while I was up there.
I estimate that this is a 20 foot drop.
I also made a short video. Sounds cool.
Click below for all of the pictures.
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| 2013_01_26 |
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1 comment:
It's funny how complicated things can get in a little adverse weather. I miss the rain in the desert. It was a real treat the few times i've seen it to see streams and waterfalls, even floods, in places that are almost always dry.
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