Waterfalls

Waterfall photography is one of those pursuits that requires you to earn it a little. You park the car, you hike in, you get your boots wet, and more often than not you end up somewhere that feels like it was put there just for you — a hidden cascade tumbling through a fern-covered canyon, or a quiet forest fall you almost walked past because it wasn't making much noise. Northern California is full of these moments, and Humboldt County in particular has waterfalls tucked into redwood forests, running off coastal bluffs straight onto the beach, and threading through ancient groves in ways that most people never find because they never went looking.

This collection spans some of my favorite waterfall locations — from Trillium Falls dressed up in autumn color, to the Avenue of the Giants waterfalls surrounded by old-growth redwoods, to the remarkable little cascade at Moonstone Beach where a freshwater creek drops onto the sand and into the Pacific right at sunset. There's also a detour to Waimea Canyon on Kauai, because some waterfalls simply demand to be photographed regardless of where they are. Nearly all of these images were made with long exposures, which is what turns moving water into that silky, almost glowing quality that makes waterfall prints look so good on a wall. These are peaceful images — and they should be. That's exactly how it felt to make them.