Yosemite after the storm gallery completed

problemchild

[FONT=Geneva, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Seventeen pictures two years in the making. I always love it when someone asks "what camera/lens"?

So heres the full story. Stories always help us understand what it takes to get the shot.
Nine months of the year are trashed because it doesnt snow. I wanted a snow covered valley to shoot for the best possible pictures. I waited last year for the snow, the weekend, an open campsite and the time off work. None of the stars aligned for me last year.

I waited this year ever vigilant of the weather and monitoring the live webcams in Yosemite Valley. Three weeks ago the valley got a snow storm. I went to bed early Friday night and woke early (3am) for the seven plus hour drive to the valley floor. When I walked down stairs my house was flooded. A water pipe broke and my place was under 3 inches of water. Needless to say the trip was cancelled. I was more pissed about the missed opportunity of shooting the snow covered valley then the flood (go figure?).

Three weeks later I'm watch the pending storm arrive on the webcam. At 7AM Friday morning the clouds rolled in on the webcam. By 11AM the valley was covered in snow. I quickly packed and left town at 11:30AM. I arrived at upper pines campgrounds at 7PM. The roads were bad and the wrecks were worse. I got stuck behind several cars that went off Hwy 41. Tow trucks were called and the rangers closed the road until they could move the cars.

I finally arrived at my campsite and cook some PBJ sandwiches
I set my alarm for 4:45AM and crash in my sleeping bag. Nothing like a cozy 0F down gortex mummy bag. The temp hit 17F at about 4AM. I was snug as a bug in my bag. I awoke to my pesty alarm radio and slipped on the down gear. I grabbed a headlamp and laced up my boots. After warming up my truck a bit I headed up to tunnel view. I was the first to arrive at 5AM. It was still very dark and clear I could see all the stars. The beauty of a dark star filled winter sky is really amazing.

I sat there on the wall just taking in the silence and remoteness of being all alone in Yosemite.

I flipped down my truck tailgate and grabbed my coleman stove and coffee pot. I used burner 1 to cook bacon and eggs and burner 2 for coffee.

Nothing like being awake before the sun and cooking breakfast to a great sunrise and view.

Well here are the shots. Two years work so to speak. Click on the thumbs and then the scaled pics to get to the full size ( reduced hi-rez jpgs) to get a feel for the original shots.

Lots of work to put these together. All of the shots consist of multiple portrait shots stitched in PTGui and shot with Canon primes and a Canon 1DS2. They are all panos.
The resolution is pretty cool. Hope you enjoy the effort and my pics.

...................
http://michaelkdickson.com/YOSEMITEWINTER/new_page_2.htm
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CalKidd

I am no pro, much less an amatuer, but it doesn't take either one to figure out those are A..W..E..SOME pictures.

Shay Stephens

Beautiful work. Well worth the time it took you!

4labs

Great work. Really enjoyed these and your story too. Thnxs for sharing.

wholenewlight

Love # 2/20 too. Just great shots. And the story puts things into context so well. Love the coyote shott too.

btw, what lens did you use . . .:smack . . . justkidding.

Awais Yaqub

Excellent work thanks for sharing

livinginoz

stunning.

thalliday

Great series PC. I too waited all season for the arrival of Winter to Yosemite Valley. Didn't think I would be able to go up on Saturday. But at the last minute I was able to go but only had about a 4 hour window in which to shoot. I wouldn't be surprised if I didin't run into you at one point because a number of our shots are from the same spots. Even your coyote looks like the one I met over by Curry Village. But then again they all look alike. Thanks for sharing.

(I went up Hwy 41 to Oakhurst and then instead of going directly into Yosemite on 41 I went to Mariposa on Hwy 49. From Mariposa you can go up Hwy 140 into the western entrance of Yosemite Valley. No chains were required and it is usually much faster than Hwy 41 when there is significant snow.)

Dee

They sure are sharp
What a gorgeous series, and the story behind them is unbelievable! All stitched? Could you elaborate more, perhaps show us little photos of how many went to create one image?

The weather looked perfect, snow just right, beautiful blue sky. And a coyote? I was amazed to see how many footprints and tracks were in the snow, amazing the amount of visitors Yosemite gets all through the year. Enjoyed the shot of the other photographers too -- but of course the scenery was the best of all.

Seven hours? I think if we drove straight, without stopping (impossible of course for us) we are supposed to make it in 4 or 5 hours but I'm sure it would take us at least 6 hours. I admire your fortitude.

evil eggplant

wonderful
Wonderful, the time you spent capturing and working with the images really shows. An outstanding collection. Congratulations.

Regards

problemchild wrote:

[FONT=Geneva, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Seventeen pictures two years in the making. I always love it when someone asks "what camera/lens"?

So heres the full story. Stories always help us understand what it takes to get the shot.
Nine months of the year are trashed because it doesnt snow. I wanted a snow covered valley to shoot for the best possible pictures. I waited last year for the snow, the weekend, an open campsite and the time off work. None of the stars aligned for me last year.

I waited this year ever vigilant of the weather and monitoring the live webcams in Yosemite Valley. Three weeks ago the valley got a snow storm. I went to bed early Friday night and woke early (3am) for the seven plus hour drive to the valley floor. When I walked down stairs my house was flooded. A water pipe broke and my place was under 3 inches of water. Needless to say the trip was cancelled. I was more pissed about the missed opportunity of shooting the snow covered valley then the flood (go figure?).

Three weeks later I'm watch the pending storm arrive on the webcam. At 7AM Friday morning the clouds rolled in on the webcam. By 11AM the valley was covered in snow. I quickly packed and left town at 11:30AM. I arrived at upper pines campgrounds at 7PM. The roads were bad and the wrecks were worse. I got stuck behind several cars that went off Hwy 41. Tow trucks were called and the rangers closed the road until they could move the cars.

I finally arrived at my campsite and cook some PBJ sandwiches
I set my alarm for 4:45AM and crash in my sleeping bag. Nothing like a cozy 0F down gortex mummy bag. The temp hit 17F at about 4AM. I was snug as a bug in my bag. I awoke to my pesty alarm radio and slipped on the down gear. I grabbed a headlamp and laced up my boots. After warming up my truck a bit I headed up to tunnel view. I was the first to arrive at 5AM. It was still very dark and clear I could see all the stars. The beauty of a dark star filled winter sky is really amazing.

I sat there on the wall just taking in the silence and remoteness of being all alone in Yosemite.

I flipped down my truck tailgate and grabbed my coleman stove and coffee pot. I used burner 1 to cook bacon and eggs and burner 2 for coffee.

Nothing like being awake before the sun and cooking breakfast to a great sunrise and view.

Well here are the shots. Two years work so to speak. Click on the thumbs and then the scaled pics to get to the full size ( reduced hi-rez jpgs) to get a feel for the original shots.

Lots of work to put these together. All of the shots consist of multiple portrait shots stitched in PTGui and shot with Canon primes and a Canon 1DS2. They are all panos.
The resolution is pretty cool. Hope you enjoy the effort and my pics.

...................
http://michaelkdickson.com/YOSEMITEWINTER/new_page_2.htm
[/FONT]

Tessa HD

I'm so glad you shared and I saw!
Enjoyed the story, the effort, and especially the photos!

Tessa