Forest and Evening Fog. Yosemite Valley, California. October 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Evening fog drifts among forest trees of Yosemite Valley.
Yes, this was shot from Wawona Tunnel View…in the evening… while standing in a line of dozens of other photographers. Sigh. :-)
I’ve written before that I do not automatically go to Tunnel View in the evening. However, if I think something special might happen and I don’t have another subject in mind I will sometimes join the tripod line. (I also sometimes find myself there on odd evenings when almost no one else is there, but that is a different story.) On this late-October day I had been having a great time photographing the misty, cloudy, and sometimes rainy landscape – perhaps among my favorite photography conditions in the Valley. As evening approached, I was pretty certain that the wet conditions and the falling temperatures would cause fog to appear among the trees on the Valley floor close to sunset, and I have some ideas about photographs of trees in this fog that I wanted to try.
So I went to Tunnel View, put a very long lens on my camera, and queued up along the stone wall at the overlook. Because I did not plan to photograph the traditional “valley view” at all, I did not worry too much about where I was in this throng – and I ended up in a spot from which the familiar view was slightly obstructed. But that was OK since I was going to be pointing my lens down. This fog is not an unusual phenomenon, but it is different every time it occurs. Sometimes it builds up high enough to hover around the upper reaches of El Capitan. Sometimes there will just be thin wisps up the center of the Valley. Sometimes it is almost stationary and sometimes it moves quickly. On this evening it started out slowly and somewhat thin, but soon a breeze began blowing the moist air up from the west and a long ribbon of fog developed along the north side of the Valley floor, and I focused my attention along the borders near the edges of the fog.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
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Gorgeous photo, I love forests in the morning with fog and mist, it gives brings you together with mother nature and a bit spooky too. Nice shot!
GREAT IMAGE!
Greg, there was no snow in the Valley – too warm at this point – but I thought I might have seen a slight dusting way up on some of the higher crags at one point.
There were plenty of photographer’s there over the weekend, though I have seen more on other occasions. I have to agree with you about the colors. There were some good colors, but it was clear that a lot of color potential remains for this week… and perhaps later?
Dan
Dan – Nice photo of Yosemite that doesn’t have the over-photographed familiar icons in it! Did you see any snow while you were there on Saturday? I was wondering (because of the weather reports) if there was a chance for a light dusting of snow in the valley, or perhaps if there was sufficient snow higher up that Horsetail Falls might be running.
I was in Yosemite Valley this past Sunday through Tuesday, and was struck by the distinct lack of photographers (not counting point n’ shoots). I believe I was one of the few walking around with a tripod in hand, which is strange, as at this same time last year, there were so many photographers with tripods, one would have thought having a tripod was a requirement to get into the park! The painters with their easels easily outnumbered the photographers with tripods this past week.
The fall colors were definitely far from reaching their peak. Michael Frye’s blog reported the Pohono Bridge area was the best for color, but I found it way too early for fall color. The black oaks along south drive, seemed to be fairly colorful, but still not at their peak.
Still, any time spent in Yosemite is still worth it, even if the fall colors are still to come.
We love that park to death with our throngs. I have to say that it is one of my favorite views of the valley, but the crowds milling about taint the experience. Nice point-of-view, Dan. Ephemeral beauty.