How can i balance long-exposure landscape waterfall shots?

[Paul.G]

I’ve been shooting landscapes for a few years and recently tried my hand at some long exposure waterfall shots. I’m struggling to get that silky water effect without blowing out the highlights in the sky or surrounding rocks, even with a solid ND filter. I’m curious how others balance the exposure in these high-contrast scenes.

[Scarlett_T]

I've chased this for a while. I usually bracket a couple stops around the meter, then soften the sky with a soft grad before the water goes long; that keeps the highlights from clipping. If the water still looks milky, I blend the frames in post or shoot one long exposure and live with a slightly blown sky, then recover what I can in RAW.

[George90]

Even with my best filter, the sky still clips sometimes. I end up chasing the water separately—shooting a long exposure for the water, then a normal frame for the sky, and blending in post.

[Brandon96]

Could the real issue be the scene's dynamic range rather than the sky?

[RileyL]

One afternoon I wandered downstream and found a different angle, got momentarily distracted by a bird, and came back with a calmer frame. The takeaway wasn’t a fix so much as a reminder that small changes in angle can push the histogram in your favor, even if the sky still fights you.