Click on the Multnomah Falls image to enlarge

Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls is a photograph about a journey that took 38 years to make. Multnomah Falls is a very famous waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge outside of Portland, Oregon. It is along the Historic Columbia River Highway.

The falls drops in two separate falls. The upper falls is 542 feet and the lower falls is 69 feet. There is a gradual 9 foot drop in elevation between the two falls, so the total height of the waterfall is 620 feet. Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in the Oregon. A foot trail leads to Benson Footbridge, a 45-foot-long footbridge that allows visitors to cross 105 feet above the lower cascade.

My journey to photograph Multnomah Falls began 38 years ago when I was 16 years old. I saw a picture of Multnomah Falls on a magazine cover. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful scene. I vowed to myself that someday I wanted to duplicate the photograph I saw that day on the magazine cover.

I did not capture the full falls in my photograph.  I chose to capture the same photograph I had seen in the magazine cover.

That journey to photography Multnomah Falls ended the other morning on a trip up the Columbia River Gorge. I camped at a State Park just up the Columbia River Highway the night before to get up early and photograph the falls with ideal weather. To get good waterfall photos you need a steady flow of water in the fall and you need good diffused lighting. Even though it is late summer in the Pacific Northwest there was still plenty of water in the falls to give a good waterfall. The fog had moved in overnight up the Columbia River Gorge to give excellent diffused lighting to photograph the waterfall.

I was at the fall early, just after the sun had come up and had the place to myself. Any later in the day and crowds of people would be at the waterfall admiring the view. With nobody else around I was able to take my time setting up the tripod and capturing what I saw.

A photograph of Multnomah Falls was a journey of 38 years for me. But it was worth the wait!