A high­light for land­scape photo­graphers in Germany

All good things come in threes. I still have unfi­nished busi­ness here in the Oden­wald, in this gorge. I have been here twice before, wanting to capture the beauty of this impres­sive gorge. But twice it didn’t work out. Once there was simply no water in the gorge because I had waited too long after the rainy days. Another time, there were simply too many hikers there and I couldn’t really get into my stride as a photo­grapher. The only pictures I took were ones I wasn’t happy with. My hopes were now pinned on attempt number 3. 

You can see the VLOG to the BLOG at the bottom of the page or you can reach it via this button:

Wasted effort

I’m not usually a resentful person, but when there’s such a gem in my home region, I natu­rally want to capture it in photo­graphs. If I don’t succeed at first, it makes me all the more deter­mined. It can’t be that someone (in this case, me) can’t take great pictures in such a beau­tiful place, can it?

It has been a while since my first visit to this place. At that time, I wasn’t looking for great land­scape photos. It was just a little family outing where we hiked up this gorge. Back then, there were no steel bridges, and I don’t remember any steel cables for safety either. But I do remember the beau­tiful water­fall. Now, several years later, having deve­loped a keen inte­rest in nature and land­scape photo­graphy in parti­cular, it was clear that I had to return to this place, to this gorge. 

On my first attempt, which was already a little late, I made a beginner’s mistake. I had disre­garded the topo­logy and charac­te­ristics of the area. The water­fall does not actually carry water every day of the year. Espe­ci­ally when it has been dry for a long time, the gorge is dry. It had rained where we were, but not a few kilo­me­tres further on. Perhaps the little rain that had fallen was not enough to fill the gorge. So there I stood, in front of dry rock faces. At least the hike was easy to manage in dry conditions. 

The condi­tions were better on my second attempt. The water­fall was rushing. But the water­fall didn’t have quite as much water as I had hoped. I was also here on a Sunday, and many visi­tors were out and about in the gorge, enjoying good hiking condi­tions and not too much humi­dity. There wasn’t a minute when a hiker didn’t want to pass by, or stand in the picture, or, or, or. It’s not her fault. I could have been smarter, arrived earlier, or simply come here on another day. 

The pearl of the Oden­wald | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 2.8/16–35 mm GM

All good things come in threes

So I came home with one or two pictures that were okay. But they still don’t convince me, which is why they don’t appear in any port­folio. This time, I didn’t want to compro­mise. Attempt three had to work. 

I took a morning off. It was a weekday morning after three days of heavy, wide­spread rain across our region. So there had to be plenty of water. There were few hikers, as it wasn’t holiday season, weekend or a long weekend. And the weather was foggy, cloudy to clear. Nothing could go wrong, I thought. 

Since I wanted to vlog a little bit for you, I had to leave early in the morning to have enough time to offer a few more shots than just the usual selfie view in the VLOG. Of course, it’s still a long way from ‘cine­matic,’ but at least ever­y­thing worked out in parallel. (Except for the noise reduc­tion of the water­fall on site).

What can I say? I was able to take photo­graphs, photo­graphs, photo­graphs. All morning long. It was only around noon, when I had already reached the last cascade, that some friendly hikers joined me. And since I had already captured ever­y­thing, I was even able to chat with them for a while. Having enough time to search for great compo­si­tions, let the motifs sink in and calmly adjust the camera settings resulted in many, many pictures that I like. I am curious to see which one will emerge as the high­light over time. 

Rising | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 2.8/16–35 mm GM

This and all other shots of this post you can request under “Prints” as an art print for your wall at home directly from me. 

Quick tips for water­fall photography

When taking photo­graphs, it doesn’t really matter what focal length you use. Tele­photo lenses above 100 mm are usually good for details or sections of the water­fall. Focal lengths in the lower range are natu­rally better for captu­ring the entire water­fall. The exact focal length depends a little on the size of the water­fall and, of course, on where you can posi­tion the camera. In other words, whether you have more or less space to move around. 

However, the follo­wing tips are univer­sally applicable

  • Work on the tripod.
  • Use the circular pola­ri­sing filter.
  • Use ND filters when necessary.
  • Expo­sure times from 1/10 s to 2 s are a good starting point to ensure that the water still has struc­ture; above 5 s, it becomes very soft. 
    Expo­sure times also depend a little on the focal length used and how close you are to the water. 
  • Wide angle: Try using the water­course as a leading line towards the falling water, or dead wood, etc. 
  • Fore­ground elements can include dead wood, leaves, or rocks, which provide a natural frame or border at the bottom of the image.
  • With the tele­photo lens: Look for places where the water hits the surface and creates trian­gles or other shapes. Where does a colour stand out, for example from a rock, or perhaps a small rainbow when the sun is shining? Photo­graph these places for beau­tiful details.
Dead wood in the gorge | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 2.8/16–35 mm GM

Infor­ma­tion about the location

I empha­sise this several times in the VLOG, and although it may sound a little amusing, I am quite serious about it. Walking through the gorge is defi­ni­tely not some­thing you should do in trai­ners. At the very least, you should wear light hiking boots with a good tread, because even then it can get really slip­pery here if it has rained in the previous days. 

We recom­mend taking a short circular walk and clim­bing the gorge from bottom to top. This will allow you to warm up slowly and get into your stride before you reach the more diffi­cult and narrow sections. Children should at least under­stand that some sections are dange­rous and that they must be careful and stay away from the edge. Thin wire ropes as railings are not actually proper protec­tion, but rather an indi­ca­tion that the path descends steeply from here. If you want to take children with you in a child carrier, there are one or two places where this is not really possible because it is very narrow and rocks over­hang the path, making it impos­sible to carry the child carrier on your back. 

Photo­gra­phi­cally spea­king, rainy weather is perfect, but it does make hiking more diffi­cult. Before visi­ting, consider whether slip­pery and diffi­cult terrain would be a problem for you. 

From rock to liquid | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 2.8/16–35 mm GM

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Pictures from the VLOG

You can see what a wonderful and inte­res­ting gorge is hidden here in the Oden­wald from my pictures. Popular with many hikers, but known to only a few photo­graphers as a real gem for land­scape photo­graphy. I am really happy that I was able to photo­graph it exten­si­vely. A lot of time went into this gallery, so I would be delighted if you would appre­ciate it accor­dingly. Feel free to write to me if you like the pictures. Or better still, sign up for my news­letter below to find out a little more about this place. 

VLOG to the BLOG

All good things come in threes. That was certainly the case here. On my third attempt to photo­graph this gorge, I finally succeeded. On my first attempt a few years ago, I was unhappy with the pictures I took. Too many visi­tors inter­fered with my ability to freely ‘compose’ the pictures, and there wasn’t a single picture that really convinced me. On my second attempt, I hesi­tated too long and the gorge was ‘empty’. No water was rushing down the rocks. But on my third attempt, well… see for yourself!

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6 Responses 

  1. hallo,
    tolles Video zu deinem Oden­wald Wasser­fall. verrätst Du mir die Location..würde mich dehr freuen

    LG Gerald

  2. Hi Simon,
    bin eben­falls leiden­schaft­li­cher Foto­graf und würde mir gerne eines Tages diese Loca­tion anschauen. Würdest Du sie mir verraten? Bin heute Morgen zufällig auf Deinen Kanal gestoßen und finde Deine Fotos beein­dru­ckend schön!
    Beste Grüße,
    Eddie

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