Trees Atop the Rostrum. Yosemite National Park, California. January 15, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Sparse trees grow in granite slabs above steep granite cliffs in Lower Yosemite Valley.
(Note: After receiving some advice from a helpful reader – which was much appreciated! – I now know that this feature has a name. It is called “the Rostrum,” and I have retitled the photograph accordingly.)
I’ve seen these tree-topped columns and the granite slabs beyond many times when I’ve taken Crane Flat Road into the Valley. On my recent visit to Yosemite, photographing these trees in both early and late light was on my agenda, and I got myself into position to shoot them on two or three occasions.
At the right times of day – and there are at least two when this can work – the light slants across the top of the granite slabs and ledges at the top of these cliffs and catches the trees with side or back light. Below these upper slopes the vertical fluted forms of the cliffs drop nearly vertically to the Merced River canyon below. The cliffs themselves are in what I might describe as lower Yosemite Valley – think of Crane Flat Road above Cascade Creek or the area well beyond the upper end of Wawona Tunnel. There is a lot of very interesting and imposing rock in this part of the Valley, though I think it may get overlooked a bit by comparison to the truly astonishing faces and domes and peaks of the Valley proper.
Since the light changes throughout the year, and especially because the point at which the sun sets moves north as the years moves from winter to summer, I want to come back and photograph this area again a bit later in the year when I think the potential for light later in the day might improve. From my point of view, the ideal conditions might combine “golden hour” side light with shadows that reduce the detail on the forest covered slopes beyond – and without the bright snow patches that appear here. Of course, a fresh snowfall here might also be interesting…
I got a bit of a laugh out of one thing that happened when I made this photograph, though it is similar to similar situations I’ve had in the past. It is not at all unusual for lots of tourists to stop when they see a photographer with a big tripod and large lens at a pull-out along the road. I assume they think that if the photographer with the Fancy Equipment is stopping that there must be something there worth photographing. But sometime the photographer is pointing the camera in direction that must only confuse them. On this occasion I was in a spot with a classic and stunning view of distant Bridalveil Fall, and I’ll bet that many of those stopping thought they might try to duplicate my “shot of the falls.” But as they stopped and looked they may have wondered about me if they noticed that my lens was aimed at some seemingly nondescript spot perhaps 30% to the right of the fall…
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Greg, I can certainly understand your feelings, and I’ve heard them expressed by lots of other photographers, too. And on a few occasions I’ve been annoyed by an overly pushy or perhaps just overly enthusiastic “tourist” who wanted to debate what camera is best or offer “helpful” suggestions about how I should make my photograph and so forth. Fortunately, at least for me, those truly annoying situations have been very rare. And I can be annoying right back… ;-)
I’ve decided to deal with the situation in several ways depending upon the specific circumstances.
If I’m really focused on what I’m doing and can’t give up any “cycles” for conversation, I just act as if the other folks aren’t there – I just go about my work. If necessary, I can probably make my lack of interest in conversation fairly obvious by replying monosyllabically or not at all. Few people will intrude, and even fewer will persist.
Of course, I think we all know that much of the time when we are “doing photography,” we actually are not in the midst of active shooting. We might be sort of wandering about and keeping our eyes open, or we might be set up and waiting for the right moment. In these situations, I’m usually open to friendly conversations. It might be the teacher in me – after all, that’s what I’ve done for many years – but I don’t mind answering a few well-meaning and friendly questions, and I often enjoy talking with others who might be sharing my experience. If someone asks “What are you photographing?” when I have my camera set up and pointing at some tree or something I resist the temptation to reply with something like “the Empire State Building” and just say, “Those trees over there. Aren’t they beautiful?” I suppose this may also be related to the years I’ve spent backpacking, where it is almost always normal to stop and say a few words to those you encounter along the trail.
And, as much as I may chuckle a bit when folks stop and try to do “my photograph,” (like your “happy snap” guy) I don’t really mind any more. I sort of am amused by it; I know that they won’t really get a photograph that looks like what I’ll produce, and I sort of remember being in their shoes at some earlier point, especially when I was a kid.
I even have an unusual “hobby” that might strike some photographers as being a bit odd. If I’m shooting and have a free moment or perhaps after I finish with a subject, if I see a group or a family doing the usual “group minus one” shot (Dad takes the photo of the whole family minus Dad, etc.), I ask if they want me to use their camera to make a photo of all of them. It is actually sort of fun. And occasionally embarrassing when we discover that I can’t figure out how to operate their P&S cameras! The funniest story about that: one group handed me their camera, I sort of directed them into a nice composition, put the camera up to my face… and they all burst out laughing. I had the camera backwards – e.g. pointing at my face instead of at them! :-)
Dan
Dan – Yes, I know what you mean about having a camera on a tripod is magnet for other tourists to come over (especially in Yosemite).
Over the years my feelings have changed about having people come over and mill about, and try to see what I’m photographing, like I’m some know-it-all, or photographic “saint” (what was the term that Charlie used in his lecture last night….”Saint Ansel”?)
When I first started photographing many years ago, I thought it was cool to have folks come over to see what I’m shooting, but now I kind of get annoyed. You know that they want to look through your viewfinder to see your framed image, but natural light is fleeting, so there is no time to allow for that.
I recall an event from last fall while shooting in Yosemite Valley, that sticks out in my mind. I was shooting in El Cap Meadow next to the black oaks, and had my camera set atop my tripod. While I’m shooting I hear the hum of 4X4 tires coming down the road, at a decent clip, then as the vehicle passes my location, I suddenly hear the pitch of the tires lower as the tires try to slow down. Sure enough someone hops out of the vehicle and makes a bee line to my location, and immediately starts taking “happy snaps” (another Charlie term). I know that they wanted to talk to me about what I saw, and what I’m doing, but I just went back to my work…maybe I’m getting grumpy in my old age.
Perhaps next time I should be a better ambassador for photography and share and inform curious onlookers, so that they may catch the photography bug, too?