Photography in Iguazu National Park, Argentina

Last year I had an opportunity to explore the Iguazu National Park in Argentina. This is one of the most impressive waterfalls systems and a must visit place for anyone traveling in the region.

The national park is closed for sunrise or sunset so it’s impossible to be there during the best times of the day. However I tried to photograph what I could.

It’s enough to take a single day to explore the whole park and some tourists take another day to cross to the Brazilian side which offers a different point of view of the waterfalls.

Because these waterfalls are so powerful there is a lot of spray coming onto the lens and the camera. It’s good to have a weather resistant camera and lens or use a rain cover (or a shower cap).

I also had to wipe the lens every few seconds and take multiple shots just to be sure I could get an image without water drops.

Overall it was a fun and challenging day photographically but also a great opportunity to explore this beautiful region.

Lessons learned

• Have fiber clothes (multiple) and wipe the lens evey few seconds.
• Take multiple exposures to be able to choose the cleanest image afterwards.
• Experiment with the shutter speed. Slow shutter creates smooth streaks of water but fast shutter freezes the drops showing the power of the falls.
• Use a long lens to take photos of parts of the waterfalls. This could result in abstract and very interesting images.