Natural Falls State Park

Located an hour away from my hometown, I heard about the Dripping Springs Waterfall in Natural Falls but never visited it. The park is fairly isolated from large cities, but visitors crowd the narrow walkways to take in the views. There is no shortage of breathtaking scenery here: from the babbling streams above the falls to the fairytale grotto hiding beneath the stones; there is something beautiful to find. 

I chose to visit near sunset (the park closes at 5 PM) to capture the sun’s rays lighting up the autumn leaves. Boy, was I ever endeared? Aside from families coordinating photos after their journey down the steps, the falls absorbed nearly every sound. The falls were nearly inaudible from a short distance as if the rocky pathways and shrubbery swallowed the sounds of splashing water. Certain areas of the trails carried different noises as I strolled along the path. 

I marked where each scene would be shot on the park maps and created a shot list organized by time of day (as it pertains to sunset). I packed my camera with spare batteries, both lenses, and a Zoom H1n for audio recording. Luckily, the park was nearly empty and perfect for recording clear audio. I started rolling the camera for each shot then set the Zoom on the ground to record (my hands holding the device created a shuffling noise). 

Shortly after the sun tucked away behind the trees, the sunset was complete, and my last two videos didn’t turn out well. So the next day, I began editing the usable shots and took a third trip back for those missing scenes. I also tried using a skateboard to roll my camera across the wooden bridge, but the final footage is still bumpy. 

For the natural ambient audio, I used my recordings of the park. I sourced the office cacophony, heartbeat, and breathing sound effects from SoundBible and Zapsplat. Without further ado, the montage: