p.1 #1 · Niagara in the Rain - Olympus E-PL1 w/ kit lens
Anne and I were in Niagara Falls for a few days last week - and on this evening with the rain and extreme fog - - - I decided to walk down to the falls and grab a few shots taken with my Olympus E-PL1 and 14-42 kit lens.
I used bracketed exposures to combine together - in order to not only hold detail in as much of the image as possible - but also to allow for an image that shows virtually no noise in the normally underexposed shadow areas.
My settings were > Manual Focus > Aperture Priority Exposure at f7.3 (changing exposure compensation between shots - mostly -3, -2, -1, 0, +1 compensation) > 100 ISO. For firing on my tripod, I set the camera to the 2 second shutter release. Anne held an umbrella over my setup to keep as much rain off as possible - although heavy sweeping mist was another issue for my gear and lens surface.
I shot with both RAW and SHQ JPG - but with my limited software HDR on my Macbook, I had to use Photoshop CS3 to handle the Jpegs (it can't handle E-PL1 RAW files) - - - at least until I get home. Except for some experimenting years ago, I haven't done this type of shooting before. But it was pretty rewarding for the 4 or 5 shots that I took the time to capture here between 9:00PM and 10:00PM. Fortunately, it wasn't severly cold out.
1 ) Shot using Tungsten WB setting for enhanced blue effect - American Falls at the end of the street, in the background
p.1 #2 · Niagara in the Rain - Olympus E-PL1 w/ kit lens
The other 2 Multi Exposure shots that I took (the Horseshoe Falls could not be seen as a result of the rain and mist). The 3'rd shot is a nice Back Shot that a friend of ours who came on the walk with us - took of Anne and me and my setup:
4 ) The Skylon Tower was not visible with the fog - but once in a while we'd see a Flying Saucer in amongst the trees
p.1 #3 · Niagara in the Rain - Olympus E-PL1 w/ kit lens
The reason that we were in the Falls, was for my brothers 25'th wedding anniversary. His wife got a great package at the Holiday Inn and asked my wife and I (I shot their wedding) as well his "best man" along with his wife - to spend the time with them in celebration.
7 ) The 4 of us got to the hotel ahead of my brother and got access to their room. Hiding in the bathtub with the curtain closed - this was Tim's surprise when finding us:
8 ) Wednesday evening we had a great supper in the revolving Skylon tower. On the walk over, I decided to lay flat on my back on the cold concrete and grab this shot of everyone with the tower in behind - Olympus E-PL1 - f3.4@1/15'th - 1600 ISO:
9 ) After supper, we headed up to the observation deck where I stuck my camera through the protective fencing, and gripped the wire on each side for stabilization. I absolutely love this shot that keeps the Horseshoe Falls as secondary and shows the lines and colors of Niagara Falls - Olympus E-PL1 - f3.5@1/8'th - 1600 ISO
10 ) On Thursday, we headed over to the American side to do some shopping in a Mall. On the way back we stopped at Goat Island and walked around a bit. It was pretty tough weather and not really too apealing or great access - but my wife and I had never been on that side before - - - so it was cool. Have to head back sometime in prime time. We were there at midday and so I shot at high 1600 ISO to create mood being I didn't have lighting:
p.1 #5 · Niagara in the Rain - Olympus E-PL1 w/ kit lens
I like the lighting. Nice exposure on the falls. Looks like the Las Vegas of Canada. Brings back many memories from the Buffalo - Niagara region. My god father use to own the Skylon Tower & nearby Michael's Inn.
