Rocks and Reflections, Merced River. Yosemite Valley, California. February 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

There are two stories behind this photograph – a photographic one and a “social” one.

The location was along a shaded portion of the Merced River in Yosemite Valley just a bit east of Bridalveil Fall, and the photograph was made in the morning on a very cold winter day. The light in this section of the canyon was rather cold and blue, but the light above the canyon was warm and golden from early sunlight hitting the Valley walls – hence the combination of the cold tones on the rocks and the very warm tones reflected in the water in this long exposure.

Among all of the places one might stop to make a photograph in Yosemite Valley, this did not appear to be the most likely and obvious spot. But this didn’t initially deter the folks looking for a “good picture” from pulling off the road here as soon as they saw me set up with a tripod and big lens. I can imagine the conversation in the car as they approached. “Hey, stop here. There’s a photographer. Let’s take a picture.” (Happens all the time – it is kind of fun in an odd way… ;-) I can only imagine their confusion when they got out and saw me pointing a really big lens toward a couple of rocks in the river, getting a shot that was not at all obvious from the road side. After they got back in their cars, the conversation might have continued: “What the heck! Here we are in Yosemite Valley and he was pointing his camera at a couple of rocks! What a nut!”

But I like the result. :-)

keywords: California, Landscape, National Park, Place, Season, Travel, Winter, valley, merced, river, reflections, swirls, rocks, boulders, current, california, usa, travel, scenic, landscape, water, stock