Waterfalls hide in all corners of this planet, from specks of islands like Reunion to bustling countries like India, some gushing straight down and others dilly-dallying along rocks, some amidst glaciers and others tucked away in parched landscapes. Each has its own charm, so how to narrow down the world's most spectacular?
Dean Goss, along with fellow waterfall connoisseur Bryan Swan, have taken quite a calculated approach, working up an algorithm that figures in volume of water, height and verticality of drop, as well as setting-be it pristine or overdeveloped.
''We grew up collecting waterfalls like little kids collect baseball cards,'' says Goss of he and Swan. They met after stumbling across each other's web sites devoted to waterfalls and merged forces to create World Waterfall Database, the most comprehensive online resource for waterfall information, complete with a ''World's 100 Best Waterfalls'' list.
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Their obsession has certain benefits: In 2003, a respected Japanese photographer named Yoshikazu Shirakawa caught wind of their list and brought them along as consultants when he toured the world shooting the 100 greatest waterfalls (his final cut differs a bit from theirs). ''He loves a list of superlatives,'' says Swan. The project ended with a gallery reception and a coffeetable book priced for $400 ''that would probably require a trip to the emergency room if you dropped it on your foot.''
Gary Black is another professional photographer who's interested in waterfalls-they've been his specialty for the last three decades, over which time he's accumulated tens of thousands of photos.
Although he grew up just 15 minutes from Niagara in Ontario, Canada, ''my favorite waterfalls don't tend to be the hugest ones,'' says Black, who prefers to photograph large-but-cascading streams. ''They hit the rocks on the way down-it's not a solid, straight drop.''
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Image: Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe
