TIERED SERIES
After moving back to Nova Scotia, I quickly noticed that it was challenging to easily venture to a beautiful landscape. The contrast to living in a subdivision where my backyard is houses versus living on the coast of the Arctic Ocean had a negative impact on my freedom to shoot. I was able to simply walk out to the backyard to breathtaking scenes of water, wildlife, sunsets and northern lights.
I was delighted to find a nice little secluded waterfall that is only five minutes away from my home in Nova Scotia. Webber Lake Falls, is easily accessed from gravel road just off the highway and a short 150 meter hike into the woods. The falls are about 6 meters (20'), and depending on the amount of water flowing the perspectives to work with change considerably. There are numerous paths the water can navigate down the rock face. The best times of year to visit webber Lake Falls are during Spring and Fall because the in the summer months there tends to be less water flowing. There are a few rapids upstream that are also worthy of photographing in the right conditions.
The Tiered series comprises of 5 images captured over a week in the late Fall of 2019.
"Tiered"
I ventured to these falls for two reasons; to take pictures as well as to scout out a nice place for family pictures. I took my youngest minion (4 years old) on this venture. Unfortunately I didn't find the falls on the first two paths we explored as there are a few trail systems. The little one didn't fair well with the added walking distance and I eventually had to carry her in additions to all of my gear. We did find it! She enjoyed a nap while I took some pictures.
Tiered captures about 2/3rds of the falls full height and about half of the width. I focused on the water flowing down the layers in the rocks.
"Tiered II"
In this image, the upper portion of the falls is isolated and I was able to capture a large number of leaves for the Autumn feeling that is throughout the series. There is a neat characteristic in the rock that resembles a catlike head. Just below where the water exits the scene, ear, eyes and open mouth with a fang?
"Tiered III"
The night before this image was taken we had heavy rains. I was excited to venture back to see how the heavy rainfall changed the flow of the falls. This image captures more of the upper portion of the falls, and is more head on verse Tiered II, but the increase in water flow is visible. The benefit is having the water flow throughout the whole image is that it allows your eyes to go on a journey through the entire image.
"Tiered IV"
The full height of Webber Lake Falls is featured in this image. I was able to capture this without the use of my neutral density filters. Shot with a 1/2 second shutter, I was able to create a nice look to the cascading water.
"Tiered V"
I decided to close out my Tiered Series with a square print. It was the ideal way to showcase the full, upper portion of the falls. With higher water flows the water was able to fall over the washboard, clearing the fallen leaves from its path. One added bonus of these falls is that from most angles you are able to capture the top of the falls without having to capture the sky. When exposing for falls, the sky tends to results in blown highlights, if the extra steps aren't taken to correct it.
I did end up doing a family photoshoot at these falls. Despite how well the photos turned out, the experience validated why I enjoy focusing my photography on landscapes versus people. Not to mention, with landscapes, I don't have to try and get three children to smile at the same time.
Print information can be found here.