Cottonwoods and Waterfalls in the Wind: A Lesson in Patience
A large cottonwood tree bearing yellow autumn leaves stands before a sandstone cliff and an ephemeral waterfall near Moab, Utah.
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with a tree. It’s a cottonwood tree, and we’ve been acquainted for nearly twenty years. Now, there are thousands of cottonwood trees around Moab and they’re all pretty amazing, but this one is truly something special. It’s huge, has multiple gracefully branching limbs, and stands on one side of the Colorado River with a red sandstone cliff as a background. I always intended to photograph it but for a reason that escapes me, I never made the effort. Earlier this fall, I finally paid this grand old cottonwood a visit. That visit was followed by another, and another, and then many more over a period of several weeks. I went at different times of the day and in varying weather, and made a small handful of images I enjoy. But the last visit, that was THE ONE.
My son Jackson asked me to go for a drive with him so he could clock some more time behind the wheel for his Driver’s Ed course. It had been raining for hours, all day, but had recently relented. Monsoon thunderstorms are known to produce waterfalls that pour from the cliffs but those are intense storms with prodigious precipitation. This was light - but consistent - rain. Waterfalls never crossed my mind. I guided Jackson to my tree, a nice drive through a pretty canyon along the river. This wasn’t a photo trip but I brought along my tripod, camera and Tamron 28-200mm lens; a simple kit, indeed. I’d hoped to find brilliant yellow leaves adorning the cottonwood, as on my last visit there were finally signs that autumn was creeping in. Upon arrival, I was thrilled to discover that not only were the leaves mostly yellow, but a tall, thin waterfall was positioned in the perfect spot to the left of the tree! I rushed out of the truck and quickly lined up a composition with my camera on the tripod. In the initial excitement I didn’t realize that the wind was blowing, and that there wasn’t a single stationary leaf on the tree. Worse yet, the delicate waterfall would disappear into mist when caught in the wind. There was only one thing to do; wait.
I am not known for having great patience but as I get older, I’m more inclined to sit in one place for a while just to see what happens. So, I stood there, just waiting for the right moment to make an image. I kept my eyes on the waterfall, and every time the wind stopped blowing it into mist I clicked the shutter. Unfortunately, the wind was not at all cooperative and every time the waterfall was intact, the leaves would be rustling and vice versa. To make matters worse, it began to drizzle. Still, I stood my ground. I made over a hundred images, hoping that one would finally have the right combination of calm leaves and a top to bottom ribbon of a waterfall. Just as the rain began to intensify, there was a moment of absolute calm. I fired off a few more frames, checked them for sharpness and exposure, and jumped back into the truck just as another gust of wind rushed through the canyon.
I visited a couple more waterfalls, got completely soaked and made a few more lovely images before returning home to import my images into Lightroom. I held my breath as I scanned through the images, finding blurry leaves and disappearing waterfalls. And then, at the end, there it was; the image you see above. Tack sharp leaves and a perfect little waterfall! Patience doesn’t always pay off in nature photography but when it does, it’s almost always worth being wet, cold and miserable for a while.
Technical Information:
Sony A7IV camera on Benro CF tripod and Acratech ballhead
Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD lens at 76mm
ISO 100
0.4s @ f/18
No filters
Processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic
