Shepperd’s Dell Falls: Photograph by Will Tenney

Shepperd’s Dell Falls

Just up the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, is the justifiably famous Columbia River Gorge. Immense cliffs rocket nearly straight up from the river’s edge, cut by hundreds of waterfalls. Some of the falls, like the well-photographed Multnomah Falls, are huge and spectacular, while others, like Wahkeenah, are less well-known but none the less dramatic. Some of the smaller falls, like this one in Shepperd’s Dell, are easily accessible. Where the rushing stream makes a sharp flip over the edge of a precipice in the Dell, the water tumbles, twists, and folds like fabric. This slightly long exposure allows the natural movement of the water to create highlight streaks of light, emphasizing the dynamics of the cascade.