Photographing Taggerty Cascades

About Taggerty Cascades

Taggerty Cascades are within the Yarra Ranges National Park on the Beeches Walking Track, about 120km East of Melbourne, just to the east of Marysville. The same area contains Phantom Falls, Cora Lynn Falls, Keppel Falls and Lake Mountain, so it makes for a nice days outing from Melbourne. The cascades are not much of a cascade, but they usually have water flowing over them and they are in a lovely setting. A small wooden pedestrain bridge goes over the falls and it makes a nice focal point for a photograph.

Viewpoints

There are a few:

  1. From downstream of the bridge. Looking upstream to the bridge the cascades provide some nice water movement, the rocks provide some nice foreground, and the trees provide the farground. To take this shot I used a Nuetral Density filter to slow the exposure down, and to give the water that white smokey feel. It was exposed to the right, and a HDR exposure improved the lighting in the shadows.
  2. Depending on which of the cascades you focus on, there are several of the above compositions.
  3. From the side of the bridge, looking back to the bridge.
  4. From the side of the cascades. This tends to make the cascades look more like a waterfall.

How I photographed the Cascades

What I took - what was in my kit

I took my LowePro Backpack loaded with Canon 5DMkII body, Canon 24-105mm zoom, Manfrotto 190 Tripod, and of course a range of lens wipes, spare batteries, sunscreen and bug repellant. I tended to shoot 28-55mm

Techniques

Long exposures and large depth of field are normally key to waterfalls. You may need to use Nuetral Density filters to get the exposure long enough, but generally the cascades are under tree cover and this is not needed. Avoiding bright light can also help. Depth of field means stopping down your lens, but sharpness requires that you do not do this more than your diffraction limit. For my camera that is about f9 or f10. If the day is sunny at all, then HDR techniques may be used.

Other things to look out for

A quick look at the map above shows Keppel Falls, Phantom Falls, and Keppel Falls Lookout nearby. In addition, Evelyn Falls, Sherlocks Lookout and Lake Mountain Summit are just off the eastern side of that map. A little further towards Marysville - which is a pretty town in its own right - there are teh Taggerty River Lookout, Keppel Lookout, Steavensons Falles and Cora Lyne Falls.

Location

Location: GR6R+5J Marysville, Victoria ///spreads.clearly.reassign (-37.489790 145.841079)

Techniques used

Kit used

How to get there

From Melbourne take the M3 / Eastlink to Ringwood, then via the Ringwood bypass take the Maroondah Highway (B360) through Healesville. After 41km, turn right onto the C512 to Marysville. At the roundabout in Marysville continue on the C512 Woods Point Rd for 500m before turning left onto Red Hill Road and immediately right onto Lady Talbot Drive. Continue on this road for 12km before turning right onto The Beeches Walking Track.

Best time to visit

As with any waterfall, there is more water over the falls during winter, and following good rains. Reasonable rains also mean that the bush is greener. However, the falls do not change much throughout the year and summer is the most popular time to visit the coast, and most people also visit the falls in summer. That can make for crowds (from a photographer's perspective) during summer holidays and weekends. As the falls are in a small valley, the time of day doesnt matter much. I have not seen a composition that has included sunset or sunrise.

Accessability

Apart from the limited view just off the car park, the falls are accessed by about 30 m of stone steps, followed by a flat, open path. The steps have a hand rail where needed, and the steps are fairly wide.

Where to stay

One obvious place is Melbourne, but this is far enough away that a 2 hour trip is needed to the area. A better place to stay is Marysville. This was one of the key holiday locations for Melbourne for many years, and their is still a large range of hotels, cottages, villas, Bed and Breakfast locations and a Big4 Holiday (Caravan) Park. There is also the Lake Mountain Ski Resort a little to the east. Camping is available at several nearby sites including Steavensons Falls.