Pro landscape photographer James Abbott passes on some tips for capturing stunning long-exposure waterfall images

PRO JAMES ABBOTT

CAMERA: CANON EOS R5

James is a landscape photographer based in Cambridgeshire, although you’ll often find him exploring one of the UK’s many hills or mountains, shooting landscapes and teaching workshops. He’s also the author of The Digital Darkroom: The Definitive Guide to Photo Editing. We met up with him at Wyming Brook in the UK’s stunning Peak District, one of his favourite spots to photograph waterfalls.

jamesaphoto.co.uk

APPRENTICE GEMMA PEPPER

CAMERA: CANON EOS R6

Gemma is a product photographer as well as weekend bird watcher and photographer, and you’ll find some of her lovely birding pictures on Instagram @thebirdnerdx_. While Gemma has a passion for all things outdoors and is confident with wildlife photography, she’s always struggled with landscapes, and is looking for some tips to help her to unlock the full potential of her Canon EOS R6 to capture long-exposure river scenes.

TECHNIQUE ASSESSMENT

James helped Gemma set up her EOS R6 to capture movement in waterfalls

APERTURE PRIORITY MODE

James set Gemma’s camera to Aperture priority mode (Av on the mode dial), and set an aperture of f/11. This tends to be the sweet spot for sharpness on many lenses, and will give a deep depth of field that’s perfect for landscapes. James also set the ISO to 100, which is the lowest native setting on most cameras, and will provide the best image quality. It also means light sensitivity is at its lowest, which is ideal for shooting the longer exposures needed to capture waterfall shots with beautifully blurred water.

USING LIVE VIEW

For shooting waterfalls James suggested using Live View; this is because you can still see your scene and autofocus even when filters like a 10-stop ND are attached. He also likes to call up the histogram, so that he can make sure no tones have been clipped, and enables the electronic level so that he can make sure his landscapes are completely straight. He also switches on the rule of thirds overlay, which enables you to fine-tune your compositions by placing points of interest on the intersecting grid lines.

EXPERT INSIGHT TRANSPORTING YOUR KIT

James packs all of his camera equipment in an F-Stop Ajna 37L backpack for long hikes, as it has an aluminium frame for support and is highly water repellent, which makes it ideal for shooting waterfalls and at the coast. It also has a hip belt, so it can be swung around and the back can be accessed without James having to take it off; this is particularly handy when James is standing in the middle of a stream and unable to put his bag down to swap lenses or grab filters.