Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge

2 Comments
Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge

Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge. Yosemite Valley, California. November 1, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fall color along the banks of the Merced River at the El Capitan Bridge, Yosemite Valley.

This is a second photograph that I made of this scene last weekend. (I posted the other one here a few days ago.) The first major winter storm of the season was just coming in, and it had already rained enough to cause the Merced River to begin to rise – which explains the debris floating on the surface in this photo.

I decided to work this scene with prime lenses rather than my zooms, so I made the previous photograph using the somewhat wider view of my 35mm lens and made this one using a 50mm prime. Frankly, I’m still going back and forth on which I like best. I like the way that this tighter crop fills the frame with the fall colors, but I like the composition of the wider view, too.

keywords: fall, autumn, color, foliage, leaves, gold, yellow, green, tree, oak, leaves, plants, nature, water, merced, river, bend, el capitan, meadow, bridge, mountain, cliff, face, reflection, yosemite, valley, national park, seaon, fog, cloud, california, usa, log, landscape, scenic, travel, stock

2 thoughts on “Merced River Fall Color, El Capitan Bridge”

  1. Thanks for the feedback, Doug. As I spend a bit of time considering the two versions I’m also starting to prefer this one. I made test prints last night of the two of them, and afterwards I made a large print of this one – and I think it will be “the one.”

    It really was – as is often the case – a matter of lucky timing, keeping my eyes open, and working quickly once the opportunity presented itself. I was driving to a different spot nearby when I crossed this bridge and just happened to look left and see these colors and the fog. I quickly pulled over, jumped out of the car, grabbed my gear, and ran back to the bridge. I had about five minutes to consider and shoot the scene using a 35mm prime and then (in this version) a 50mm prime before it started raining again. (I actually have another version of the scene with raindrops on the surface of the water that may also turn out to be interesting.)

    Dan

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  2. They both are great Dan, though my vote is for this one, only because it draws your eyes to the river and color rather than the rock behind. Stunning colors either way, looks like you hit it just right…

    Doug

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