Camera-toting waterfall fans will soon have a chance to take part in a contest.
The Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau will hold a people’s choice competition this summer, bureau communications manager Mary Brelsford said Wednesday.
Dates and details aren’t firm yet, but Brelsford predicted that the bureau will start accepting entries — photos of waterfalls — in August and continue into September.
A jury will select about 10 or 20 of the best shots, and in October the public will have an opportunity to vote for favorites via a Web portal set up by the visitor bureau.
“We hope to announce the winners on Nov. 1,” Brelsford said. “It’s going to be great fun,” with a grand prize involving Peninsula travel plus second- and third-place prizes.
To learn more about this region’s waterfalls, which include the block, chute, curtain, fan and segmented types, see the visitor bureau’s online guide, www.OlympicPeninsulaWaterfallTrail.com.
To obtain a brochure on the Waterfall Trail, phone 360-452-8552.
Photographing a waterfall
Lani Doely, the Seattle photographer who provided many of the images for the Waterfall Trail Web site and travel brochure, offered tips for capturing cascades with your camera.
An overcast sky is always best for outdoor photography, Doely said. But since you want some sunlight illuminating your falls, consider the time of day. If you’re shooting a west-facing waterfall, photograph it in the afternoon, she advised. If it faces east, visit in morning light.
For Doely, carrying her camera gear on sometimes lengthy trails is one of the challenges. But it’s worth it to tote a tripod so you can slow down your shutter speed.
“That makes the water look streaming, and not out of focus,” she said.
And while May and early June are the lushest times of the year for waterfall photography, Doely revels in shooting the Peninsula’s many streams during other seasons, too.
“I haven’t met a waterfall I didn’t like,” the photographer said.
