When I moved to where I live now five years ago, I started scouting areas to see what interesting places I could find in my area that would be good to explore for some black and white photographs. Many day trips to small towns, restaurants, museums and hikes in the woods. So far, I have found some great communities, not as many great places to eat and a few hidden spots in the woods.
One particular spot isn’t far from my home. It’s only 11 miles away so it was one of the first places I discovered that I wanted to photograph. It is a waterfall tucked back into a bluff feeding into the Saint Croix River. I am a sucker for a good black and white waterfall photograph.
However, it was late summer when I came across the location. The water of the spring fed stream was low and barely flowing at a trickle. It had potential but wasn’t what it could be if it were early summer or spring. I made a note of it and thought I would return the next season.
The next season I returned in spring, but the area was experiencing drought conditions. I returned a few times that spring and early summer, but I struck out getting the photograph I had hoped to. “Next year”, I said.
The following spring there was more than average snow melt and rain. I thought “all right! this should be a great year for the water flow” I packed up my gear with great expectations. When I arrived at the trail head, which was along a larger riverbank, the whole trail was under feet of water. Strike two.
This year, I was more determined than excited to try and get this shot. I was expecting it to be low flow again, but I had to see for sure. I had an hour to spare in between some commitments, and I was in the area. I had packed my camera with hopes I could take a quick look and maybe get a grab shot and return if it was looking good.
It is a 15-minute hike to these falls from the trail head. That meant I only had 30 minutes on location to find a composition and take my shot. As I started to round the bend to the falls, I could hear something but didn’t know if it was traffic on a nearby road or the water over the falls. When I arrived at the location, low and behold, the water was flowing beautifully.
The scene below the falls was a lot more chaotic than I remembered from the last time I was there. Holding a lot of debris that had gathered after coming over the fall from the winter thaw. This presented another obstacle to my preconceived vision of the shot. Scrambling over deadfall trees, logs and forest chowder, I scouted around for a composition and set up my shot. I only had time for one set up and I wanted it to count.
I could have let the obstacles stop me from executing on my creative vision. The conditions not being right over and over, the limited time I had when I found the right conditions and the challenge of finding a composition when the location looked different than I expected. Many times, I find myself pushing through to overcome disappointment or challenge to get my final vision manifested in a photograph.
I will return to this spot because now that I have this image, I am more intrigued with the location and want to see what other compositions I can find that will convey the calmness of the flowing water.
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