Albion Falls

Today I visited the Albion Falls in Hamilton, Ontario. I was guided by my brother, Bruce and his wife Joan, residents of nearby Burlington. I learned of these very pretty falls from pictures I had seen at online photo posting sites. I was attracted by the beauty of the falls and welcomed the opportunity to photograph them myself. The falls are not high (19 m) nor is there a large volume of water under normal conditions. What they lack in majesty they overcome with the beauty of the water cascading over multiple levels of exposed sedimentary rock, part of the Niagara Escarpment.  Hamilton is known as an industrial city and it may surprise people to know that there are more than 100 waterfalls within the its boundaries. In the past few years, Hamilton has begun to promote itself as the “City of Waterfalls”.

This first shot of the falls is a long exposure (25 seconds) creating the soft, streaming effect you see above. What I find appealing about these falls is the multiple streams cascading down the staircase of rock and the stratified texture of the rock face itself. You can gain a better sense of these in the following close-up.

From viewing this and earlier posts, you have no doubt concluded that I like the soft, streaming effect of a long exposure when photographing waterfalls. For those who may prefer the “closer to reality” look, I’ve included a shorter exposure version, in this case 1/25 sec.

Here you also see a broader view of the base of the falls and of course, the falling water has a different look. With a much shorter exposure time, I’ve come closer to “freezing” the water’s motion.