I want you to picture this (no pun intended, I'm not a funny guy). Tourists are lining the edge of Niagara Falls and you are behind them. What do you see?
Their heads move from left to right. Sometimes they stop and point at something. They raise a camera into a shooting position and take a wide angle shot.
Their photographs are all pretty much the same.
And here is the point: while viewing the panorama, they all see the same thing.
What's different when you photograph the same landscape using a 400 mm lens?
What do you see that they don't?
Note: these photographs were taken in March-April when
the massive winter-ice buildup was beginning to melt.
Technical Considerations
I used a Canon 40D with a 100-400 zoom lens.
A monopod is essential.
Time of day? I always prefer early morning, but too much of the falls is still in shadow. I had to wait until about 9:00 am.
Then I study the highlights in the mist and the deep shadows.
I need to freeze the motion in the water (and the delicate mist), so I chose a minimum of 1/800 second exposure (sometimes much higher). This gave me f10 at ISO 400.
Elevation
Some shots were taken at street level while others were taken 3/4 of the way down the gorge. The above two shots were taken from a very low vantage point, while the photo below was from street level.
Birds
I try to include birds in my photos. I'd compose the shot and then wait for birds to fly across the frame. This requires a fair bit of patience. When the event happens, I fire off 10-15 shots at 6 frames per second (remember when I said earlier that a monopod is essential?). It's important the the bird(s) in the photo is positioned properly and that the light hits the bird just right.
While taking the photographs at street level, I met some very interesting people. The main question they asked me was always the same: why are you using such a big lens to photograph the Falls?
I answered their question by inviting them to take a look through the viewfinder. They were amazed!
Below are a few photographs I took at the Grand Canyon using a 400 mm lens.
More of Terry Dolle's work (landscape, wildlife, digital art, and abstracts) can be seen at www.agoginc.com.
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