Yangpi Cave Waterfall Light Beams

The waterfall that comes out of a mountain

The Yangpi Cave Waterfall sits in a forested valley in Guizhou, and its whole character comes from one strange fact: the water does not go over the cliff, it comes out of it. A river disappears into the hillside upstream and reappears here as a broad, powerful fall pouring from a dark cave mouth in the rock face. The cliff is high, the cave is black behind the water, and the valley in front is choked with big trees and wet boulders — so you are shooting white water against deep shadow, with green everywhere around it.

This is a spot where the weather does the work. After rain the falls swell and throw a column of mist out in front of the cave, and on bright mornings the sun angle is low enough for the light to knife through the spray in visible beams — the shot everyone comes for. In the afternoon the whole wall of rock goes into shade, the contrast drops, and you can slow the shutter down and pull the falls into long white ribbons against the dark cave. Both versions are worth keeping an afternoon for.