Forty Foot Falls & Below

With all the rain recently the water has been surging over Forty Foot Falls in Surry NH. This water fall, which is part of Merriam Brook, is one of the least well known in the region, but can be quite spectacular. This anonymity is probably due to a number of factors including the fact that the falls is tucked away at the end of a neglected unmarked dirt road and is partially accessed across a decaying bridge. Unfortunately, the actual falls are at the head of a deep, narrow ravine, bordered by shear rocky cliffs. It is nearly impossible to get a full view of the falls. Probably the best angle comes from above the falls as seen here, but I have also captured views from across the bridge looking up stream. I have always felt that the best part of Forty Foot Falls is actually the other, more accessible, waterfalls and cascades that are below the tallest drop. Yesterday the flow over this section was almost too intense. Heavy flows tend to become indistinct during the long exposures required by the fading light. I had to try to find views that included rocks to break up the surge and focus on areas were the drop was more pronounced, combing the water into many smaller strands. Shorter shutter speeds can help, and I tried using an ISO of 400 with wider apertures to get the exposure to less than one second. It was great getting back out to this interesting spot. It was certainly worth dealing with the off an on rain. Photographers live for bad weather.