Recent Yosemite highlights

ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
edited January 8, 2011 in Landscapes
I spent two days in Yosemite during the recent Christmas holiday and was there a few times earlier in December. I was there in November shooting with a buddy and with the holidays, etc, I haven't taken the time to share any of the highlights from those trips. These shots span the last of Fall color and the first of Winter's impact. There's a clear difference in the progress of Fall color between the higher elevations along Tioga Road and the valley floor…:



1) Sunset from Olmstead Point looking west towards Half Dome:

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2) Dogwood Fall color closeup along the trail to the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias:

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3) Dogwood Fall color closeup along the valley floor (in the rain):

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4) Dogwood closeup after Winter started (also along the trail to Tuolumne Grove):

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5) Winter fog along the valley floor:

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6) "Photographer's Log" at the Valley View pullout (last pullout along Northside Drive):

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7) First attempt at capturing the Chapel on the valley floor at night (mid December):

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8) Trying again with the Chapel-at-night shot (late December):

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9) Medical evacuation at Ahwahnee Meadow (day before Christmas):

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Also managed to capture another coyote up close but posted that in the Wildlife forum…

I'm hoping to hit Yosemite again in late February to stalk Horsetail Fall. Last year, all I managed to catch there was a rainbow, not bad, but not the fire fall effect I'm was hoping for. :D

Comments

  • zhousuzhousu Registered Users Posts: 50 Big grins
    edited January 5, 2011
    I like #8 best, a little house, stars and the moon, dark blue sky matching with yellowish snow, like fairy tales.
  • BambiBambi Registered Users Posts: 28 Big grins
    edited January 5, 2011
    lovely set of photos. I really like the b&w with the fog. The trees on the right add a nice touch. I might be tempted to crop out more of the road and perhaps clone out the post. :)
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2011
    zhousu wrote: »
    I like #8 best, a little house, stars and the moon, dark blue sky matching with yellowish snow, like fairy tales.

    Thanks for the kind words. When shooting the chapel at night, at least on a cold night, you pretty much have the place to yourself. :D

    Finding an angle worth shooting from that also blocks as much of the interior lights as possible ends up dictating a fair bit of the composition. It's a spot I'll keep working on…
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2011
    Bambi wrote: »
    lovely set of photos. I really like the b&w with the fog. The trees on the right add a nice touch. I might be tempted to crop out more of the road and perhaps clone out the post. :)

    Thanks for the feedback.

    The original shot had more road in it and I cropped it so the road ends right at the lower left. I could've moved to the right a bit before taking the shot, and shot a bit more "straight on" but I figured that wouldn't be as interesting as having a slight angle in there… ne_nau.gif

    I'm normally not a fan of black & white, but the sky works much better in b&w for this shot than it does in color. The clouds just vanish in color, but in b&w they really give the sky some interest.

    Good catch on the post. I'm so used to seeing those mile markers as I drive through the Park that it didn't stand out to me.
  • GOLDENORFEGOLDENORFE Super Moderators Posts: 4,747 moderator
    edited January 5, 2011
  • Sexy6ChickSexy6Chick Registered Users Posts: 948 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2011
    I really like the chapel shots!
    ~*Natalie*~

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  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    GOLDENORFE wrote: »
    really like #1 & 5 clap.gif

    I really like the way #1 came out…so much so that I'm using it on the face of a clock I'm building for a (late) Christmas present. The clock's top is arched and that sunset sits between the top of the clock's "dial" and that arch (with the sunset masked to match the arch's shape). If I ever finish it, I'll post a pic. :D
  • Doug SolisDoug Solis Registered Users Posts: 1,190 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    Beautiful series, hard to pick a fav.
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2011
    I should've included this shot as well…taken in the parking area for Tuolumne Grove. With Winter in full bloom, the Rangers have pulled the big toys out of storage…reminds me of a mechanized woolly mammoth with the front upward struts resembling the mammoth's tusks…

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