This is a continuation of my series - The Story Behind the Images - the stories about my favorite photographs as I remember them. I hope you enjoy and please share.

This image was taken in the Bitterroots National Forest on a backpacking trip early in the summer of 1999. I was returning from a road trip to Seattle and stopped into to visit my sister in Missoula who was at school at the University of Montana. We decided on a quick trip to the Bitteroots which Kim had been talking up during her time at the U of M. We were attempting to camp at a Mill Lake but after making our way through deeper than anticipated snow surrounding the lake and noticing plenty of mountain lion activity, we decided to set up our tent back down the valley where the mountain lion activity at least wasn’t so obvious. This outcrop of rocks was located just up the hillside from our camp.

I remember waking early and climbing the hillside to set up for the shot. I knew there was some nice rock outcrops based on what we had seen from the valley floor the night before, but I hadn’t scouted the location and was very excited to see the water cascading over the rock face. The clouds were moving quickly and I knew this would create a nice motion offsetting the flow of the water.

I photographed this image with a Nikon N90s and a Nikon 24mm f2.8 lens on Fuji Velvia 50 transparency film. It was scanned by West Coast Imaging using a Heidelberg Tango Drum Scanner. If you enjoyed this post please share and visit me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Flickr (links on the left). Thanks again. Jason C. Ruf

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The Story Behind the Images - Bitterroots Waterfall