Tag Archives: el capitan

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Half Dome and El Capitan, Morning

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Half Dome and El Capitan, Morning
Half Dome and El Capitan, Morning

Half Dome and El Capitan, Morning. Yosemite National Park, California. June 5, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of backlit Half Dome framed by steep Yosemite Valley canyon walls including the face of El Capitan.

Allow me one more photograph in the recent sequence of black and white photographs of “Yosemite icons.” On most drives into and out of the Valley I stop and look at this scene and frequently try to photograph it if the conditions are special. In the morning there is often haze here, and this creates an effect of atmospheric recession from the half dozen or so layers in the scene. It is a tricky thing – a bit too much haze and the details of forest and rock can become almost invisible; too little haze and the contrast between brightly lit highlights (like the patch of snow on Half Dome) and the deep shadows can become quite stark. The image I have in mind includes the effect of atmosphere-highlighted distance, the effect of back-lighting on the trees (most obvious here perhaps at the lower left), and the abstract nature of the different intersecting slopes and faces.

A technical note: I used the Canon 5D2 with the EF 100-400mm zoom at 365mm to make this photograph. Some doubt that a zoom like this can produce enough resolution, but at full size I can just barely make out a couple people on the snow bank atop Half Dome. Sharp enough for me!

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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Technical Data:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 365mm
ISO 200, f/11, 1/400 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, sierra, nevada, mountain, spring, nature, valley, half, dome, el capitan, forest, ridge, mountain, cliff, face, back, light, trees, atmosphere, recession, distance, sky, snow, patch, field, summit, canyon, bright, landscape, scenic, travel, california, usa, north america, mariposa, county, haze, stock, black and white, monochrome, morning, highway, 120, icon

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Horsetail Fall, Early Evening

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Horsetail Fall, Early Evening
Horsetail Fall, Early Evening

Horsetail Fall, Early Evening. Yosemite Valley, California. February 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The silver strand of Horsetail Fall and water reflecting on surrounding cliffs in late afternoon light, Yosemite Valley, California.

I’m thinking it is pretty nearly impossible to make a truly original photograph of Horsetail Fall – though I won’t completely rule out the possibility.

In any case, here I decided to start photographing the February spectacle a bit before the colorful sunset light showed up. At this point the beam of light on the cliff face around the fall is a bit larger, lighting the rocks to the right of the fall as well as the fall itself. During this season there has been enough precipitation and the weather had warmed enough to not only get Horsetail flowing but to also create some seepage down the face of the cliff next to the fall. As a matter of fact, the reflections from this wet rock caught my attention more strongly at first than did the fall itself. A second process was at work here as well: a stiff breeze from the west was blowing across the path of the falling water, catching it, and blowing thin clouds of spray across the buttress to the left of the fall itself.

I have posted several short articles on photographing this seasonal Yosemite Valley icon:

One of the best sources of current season information about the Horsetail Fall photography potential is photographer Michael Frye, who frequently posts general information and updates each winter.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Horsetail Fall, Sunset (#2)

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Horsetail Fall
Horsetail Fall

Horsetail Fall, Sunset (#2). Yosemite National Park, California. February 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Horsetail Fall in the final sunset light on a mid-February evening, Yosemite Valley, California.

I was in Yosemite Valley for a couple of days during the middle of February. My main reason for going was not to photograph the seasonal and iconic sunset light on Horsetail Fall, but it turned out that I did just that – twice. Since I have photographed the phenomenon in the past and already have a photograph that I consider a success, shooting it again isn’t at the top of my to-do list. However, I’ll shoot an icon if I think that the conditions might be special. In the afternoon I had been up high enough to get a clear view to the west, and it had looked almost completely clear. This is pretty much a necessary condition for good light on Horsetail, since the very late and low-angle light has to come in from across the Central Valley unobstructed. And, as everyone knows by now, the fall is an intermittent and seasonal event that depends on the right combination of prior snow (or rain) and warm weather to get the creek feeding the fall running in the middle of winter. It turned out that this had also happened, and the fall was running pretty strongly.

So, with all of those pieces apparently in play I decided to head on over to the picnic area beneath El Cap and then wander east until I found a suitable viewpoint. Still a bit ambivalent about shooting Horsetail, one reason I chose this spot is that it allowed me to shoot other subjects in the late afternoon and then arrive more or less at the last moment (around 5:00 p.m.) and still find parking and a spot to shoot. The parking, especially, can be more problematic at the other popular location, located along Southside Drive.

In the end, it was an odd evening for Horsetail. As the sunset continued the fall began to glow, and it looked like it might possibly turn out to be a really special night to shoot this subject. But then a few minutes before the peak of color would have occurred… it was as if someone switched the lights off. Very quickly the color dimmed to much more muted shades and remained so as the light faded. This was my last shot before that turn of events occurred, and this color corrected version (compensating for the otherwise very blue light on the rock face not struck by the sunlight) picked up some nice light and some of the most delicate and beautiful spray I’ve seen on the fall.

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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keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, california, usa, north america, nature, winter, landscape, cliff, water, fall, waterfall, creek, el capitan, ledge, crack, tree, skyline, ridge, buttress, mist, spray, horsetail, fire, evening, sunset, light, travel, scenic, mountain, sierra, nevada, range, winter, february, shadow, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Detail, Last Light on El Capitan

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Detail, Last Light on El Capitan


Detail, Last Light on El Capitan. Yosemite Valley, California. October 31, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail view of last sunset light on the face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California.

Recently I wrote about (and confessed to occasionally) photographing icons. You cannot succumb more openly to “icon photography” than by creating a sunset photograph of El Capitan as seen from Wawona Tunnel view – but that is exactly what this is.

I had not originally intended to photograph here, but as I often do, I drove by and stopped on my way to look for another subject. When I arrived I got out of the car and walked to the overlook without my equipment, as I often do, just to take a look at the stupendous view – worth doing whether or not you decide to photograph it. Most of the time I simply enjoy the view and then get back in the car and move on. However, on this evening I noticed some things about the conditions that forced me to consider the possibility that it might be “special” enough to stick around and haul out the camera and tripod. The air was quite clear, but even more potentially interesting, I could see a few low clouds to the west and the sky in that direction looked a bit hazy – both conditions can create intense color at sunset. (If I could have ordered up revisions to the existing scene, I might have requested a few interesting clouds floating around the face of El Cap, but no one seemed interested in taking my order!)

Rather than shooting the usual “valley view” – it takes Really Super Extra Amazing Special Conditions for me to “go there” – I put my longest lens on the camera and decided to “work” details of the scene, particularly looking for boundary areas and interesting shapes and forms. By boundary areas I refer to to beautiful and interesting spots where different things are juxtaposed – a shadow and bright illumination, a soft shape or texture and a harder one, a closer subject and one farther away. As the light evolved this pattern of brilliantly illuminated cliff faces separated by a slightly curving shadow and underlined by the rising shadow emerged.

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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keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, autumn, fall, season, scenic, travel, nature, landscape, california, el capitan, cliff, face, shadow, prow, edge, crack, texture, form, ledge, sunset, evening, dusk, sky, clouds, rest, granite, rock, climb, rock, ridge, evening, stock