Nigel called me up and asked if I would be interested in a day trip to Hamilton to check out some of the waterfalls. Well, you know I said yes.

What was supposed to be more of an overcast day ended up being the exact opposite. Blue skies are not exactly what you want when photographing water falling over cliffs as the camera has a hard time with extreme light variations. Our first stop of the day was Albion Falls, a very popular waterfall in Hamilton. Because it was our first stop and it was fairly early there were only a couple of people around (and none of them in our shots).

Albion Falls

Albion Falls

The harsh light didn’t make the waterfall look that great in colour so I switched it over to black and white to take advantage of the high contrast. Because part of the falls is partially in the shade it makes it very difficult to get the whole waterfall in without getting blown out highlights or too deep blacks. Sometimes the best thing to do in this situation is look for the details.

Edges of Light

Edges of Light

Nigel and I explored the waterfall from many different angles before deciding it was time to move on to our next stop. He was taking me over to a small cascade waterfall I had never heard of – Billy Monkley Falls. 

Cascade

Cascade

A pretty easy waterfall to get to the bottom of and even to cross so you can get multiple angles. Something however, was wrong with me as most of my photos were blurry of this waterfall. I think I was having a moment. Things got better later when we headed over to Mountview Falls. 

Mountview Falls

Mountview Falls

We had a bit of scrambling to do to get some of the shots here at Mountsview Falls but they were well worth it. The manmade stones created a really nice texture (although they were a little slippery).  On the way from the parking to Mountview Falls is another small waterfall known as Upper Princess Falls.

Upper Princess Falls

Upper Princess Falls

Now I don’t know where Lower Princess Falls might be but I’m sure it exists somewhere, right? Anyway, this one was a little tricky as it flows onto the main walking path and then over the escarpment. Normally it’s not a big deal but in February it usually means a crazy amount of ice. We had to find just the right spot so our tripods wouldn’t slip and slide and that we were out of the way of the many people deciding to hike that day. 

Overall a great day out exploring some of the more well known and the lesser known waterfalls in Hamilton.