I had scoped out quite a few falls to visit this spring in the Umpqua National Forest in southern Oregon. Of those, Watson Falls was the tallest, dropping just a tad less than 300 feet off an impressive circular wall of basalt. This was the fifth waterfall that I visited this day and my luck held out with the weather conditions. There was a light rain falling as I headed up the steep trail to the upper viewing area at the base of the falls.

I stopped a couple of times along the trail looking for a composition, but wasn’t able to get an uncluttered view. It wasn’t until closer to the falls that the trees and brush thinned out. The only problem with being that close though was the massive amount of spray coming off the thundering falls. I worked my way around a couple of large boulders getting soaked along the way. The mossy rocks were getting the better of me in my attempt to reach a good vantage point, so I finally retreated to the only spot I felt somewhat safe standing at. I got setup and made a futile attempt at getting a shot with my lens not being totally covered with water spots. After less than five minutes, I threw in the towel (literally!) and packed up. I only took ten shots, but somehow managed to come away with this one that only had a few spots that had to be cloned out!

Click on the image to view a larger version in the galleries.