My first post of a photo from 2012 from my first shoot of 2012 taken from my first real outing with my new 70-200mm lens. Ahhh. That’s a lot of firsts. I’ve wanted to shoot a moody scene out at Snoqualmie Falls near Seattle for a long time. It’s not that far out of town really, about forty-five minutes drive. The catch is not really knowing what to expect from the weather. So, on a whim… I got together with fellow shooting buddy, Rod Hoekstra, and headed for the mountains and the falls.

A mild winter’s day in Seattle turned into a blustery, misty setting at the falls which made shooting somewhat difficult. The wind would carry the mist right into the front of the lens. This made long exposure shots, like this one, very difficult. Patience rewards you of course… it was a matter of waiting for the wind to dissipate briefly, clean the front of the lens, and shoot.

It’s very easy to get distracted by the vastness and sheer size of these falls. They’re actually fairly massive and are accentuated by giant cliffs on either side. Temptation would have you try to fit it all into the frame but I wanted to do something different (after I got that shot… ). I decided to focus on highlighting the sheer power of the falls themselves. By using the telephoto lens, it compressed the rocks and the water flowing over the edge all into the frame. I found an aesthetically pleasing orientation around the water and rock formations… and then I had my shot. I opted for the B&W processing to highlight the rocks at the top and the mist at the bottom, forged together by the power of the falling water.