Early winter morning light on Upper Yosemite Falls seen from the Merced River

I shot this Upper Yosemite Falls back in February. My initial plan that morning was to shoot a sunrise at the valley view point, but when I arrived at my intended location, there was about a dozen photographers there. I couldn’t find a decent spot to setup my tripods, so I just packed up my gears and left to find another location. I ended up here on the Merced River by the Swinging Bridge. I stood in the icy water waiting for the light to reach the valley floor, hoping to catch the rising mist, but the clouds rolled in and blocked most of the soft light for the rest of my morning.

As far as post processing on this image, I had to do some dodging to correct the 0.6 split ND filter effect on the top half of the image (too dark). This is one of those images that I think a 1 stop soft edge ND filter would work better than my 2 stops hard edge ND filer.

Here is another view of this spectacular waterfalls seen not too far from where I shot the above image: Upper Yosemite Falls in Winter (BW).

The big granite wall seen in a winter morning from Yosemite’s Leidig Meadow.

After digging myself out of the snow from my previous Upper Yosemite Falls shot, I headed back towards the swinging bridge. Looking at the morning light on the huge granite rock face and seeing a faint line of fog rising at the edge of the Leidig Meadow, I just knew that a black and white image was waiting to be captured.

It’s nearly impossible to come up with an original image from Yosemite since the place has been done to death by countless photographers, but I do try to force myself to look away from the classic locations. All the popular spots I visited that morning were teaming with photographers. In the end, the two images that I like most from my trip are these two black and white images because some of their compositional elements are consistent with most of my other works.

]]> http://www.photofool.com/2009/02/25/the-wall/feed/ 29 http://www.photofool.com/2009/02/23/upper-yosemite-falls-in-winter-bw/ http://www.photofool.com/2009/02/23/upper-yosemite-falls-in-winter-bw/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:30:49 +0000 photofool http://www.photofool.com/?p=2225

Yosemite has been transforming itself into a modern day theme park to accommodate mass tourism. I remember visiting the park during the peak season … congested traffic for miles, crying infants, visitors packed like sardines into shuttle service buses … Although I often think that Yosemite has lost some of its allure, once in a while, I still find myself walking the valley floor. During the winter months, Yosemite still shows its quiet grandeur to those who love the park for what it is.

I took a few decent photos during my visit last weekend, but this black and white version of the Upper Yosemite Falls is one of my favorites. When I shot this image, I was thigh deep in the soft snow, waiting for the morning light to come through. There was nobody else around but my camera and I. In the quietness of a cold winter morning, my bio rhythms slowed down to match with my surrounding. I stood still, taking it all in.

I returned to Yosemite looking for a quick escape, and I found what I was searching for since dawn: a moment of stillness alone in the middle of some of the grandest display of Mother Nature’s wonders. People often ask me why I keep on coming back to Yosemite, I simply say because I like it. It is hard for me to explain my desire to loose myself in order to find myself again …

Thunderous cracking sound from the distance waterfall awakened my senses. I wiggled my toes and dug myself out of the snow. On my way back to the swinging bridge, another photographer greeted me, “I saw you deep in the snow, and I am glad I didn’t go out there!” I smiled, “It’s easy to get lost in a beautiful morning”. He nodded, and we parted way.

]]> http://www.photofool.com/2009/02/23/upper-yosemite-falls-in-winter-bw/feed/ 47 http://www.photofool.com/2007/03/25/bridal-veil-falls/ http://www.photofool.com/2007/03/25/bridal-veil-falls/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2007 08:05:45 +0000 photofool http://www.photofool.com/2007/03/25/bridal-veil-falls/

Been meaning to post this shot sooner, but the work week was too much. For the past few days, after getting home from work, I didn’t want to touch the computer. Anyway, this shot concludes my day in Yosemite Valley: Spent the early sunrise hour near the base of El Capitan; Took seven other folks up the Mist trail during the middle of the day; Stayed behind and waited for the evening light over Bridal Veil Falls while others left the park for dinner.

The best part about this trip? My dad actually spent almost two hours with me out on location. He got too see what I actually do to get my photos. After I lined up my tripod, filter and took some test shots to check my meter reading. I stood there, folded my arms and waited.

Dad: [getting impatience] “What else are you waiting for?”
Me: “I’m waiting for the light to get softer. It will paint the rock face with a rich gold color.”
Dad: “Really? The rock actually changes colors?”
Me: “Yes. I’m hoping that the rock face will glow when the light gets lower.”
Dad: [pacing back and forth ...]
Me: “The light should get better in about 45 minutes … maybe an hour.”
Dad: “I never knew how much efforts you put in these photos.”

I guess seeing me waiting for the light to develop and how I operate my camera gears, he has a better appreciation for my hobby. When I was young, he wanted me to take piano lesson, but I wanted to play sports. Although I never grew up to be the musician that he wanted, I’m sure he now sees the artistic side of me. Perhaps the next time I give him a print, he’ll appreciate it a little more than “oh, that’s nice.”

Back from Yosemite.

I’m making it a habit to shoot sunrise for my birthday. Last year was sunrise over Hopi Point in the Grand Canyon. This year, I spent my birthday morning scouting a long the bank of the Merced River near the base of El Capitan (wiki), looking for a spot to set up my new tripod to catch the dawn light illuminating the side of this gigantic granite.

I miscalculated sunrise time b/c of early day light savings, so I ended up sleeping in the car for an hour before starting to explore the area in the dark. Since this was my first time in this particular location, I had no idea what to expect. As I was searching along the river bank for a spot, I remember Ansel’s famous quote, “A good photograph is knowing where to stand”. Knowing that the good light would last for another 15 minutes, I shot a few frames, moved down stream, shot a few frames, rinsed and repeated until I could no longer fit the rock and its reflection into my view finder. I might not know where to stand, but I can do trials and errors :) This was as close as I could get. Will post more photos from this trip sometimes this week.