Tag Archives: february

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

Horsetail Fall, Sunset (#2)

4 Comments
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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

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

News, Workshops

Yosemite Valley Photography Workshops: Walklet and Frye

Leave a comment

I see that the Ansel Adams Gallery has scheduled a couple of interesting winter season workshops.

  • Digital Printing and the Zone System With Michael Frye on January 19-23, 2010 – Michael Frye is both a well-known and highly-regarded photographer of Yosemite and other subjects and the author of the well-known guide book to photographing in the Valley.
  • Winter Light II With Keith Walklet on February 17-22, 2010. Walklet is a long-time Yosemite Park photographer whose experience and knowledge is extraordinary. (As I write this I have an mental image of him disappearing over a far ridge above upper Cathedral Lake last summer as he headed out to photograph some high, austere terrain.)

Both workshops take place during the beautiful winter season in the Valley and those trying to get “their shot” of Horsetail Fall may have a chance during Keith’s workshop in mid-late February.

Photographs: Yosemite

Horsetail Fall, Sunset (Black and White)

Leave a comment


Horsetail Fall, Sunset (Black and White). Yosemite Valley, California. February 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

Just because everyone else shoots this famous February event in color doesn’t mean I can’t shoot it in black and white. :-)

For those who may not recognize the subject immediately, a bit of background. Yosemite Valley contains not only the famous waterfalls (Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Fall, Vernal and Nevada Fall) but also a huge number of smaller seasonal falls. A number of them have their sources in relatively low (compared to the Sierra crest) areas immediately surrounding the Valley, and therefore flow earlier in the season. Some even produce a good flow in the middle of winter when the conditions are right: recent precipitation and warmer temperatures.

Horsetail Fall is one of the best known and most striking of these falls, for a variety of reasons. It flows from near the top of massive El Capitan near the eastern part of the monolith. Its seasonal appearance makes it a fall that most visitors to the Valley never see. Its appearance is not a certainty, depending as it does on just the right combination of snowfall and warmth. And, most impressive, for a few weeks early each year a fortuitous placement of the fall relative to formations across the Valley to the West allows a beam of light from the setting sun to illuminate the fall just at sunset, often turning it and its spray wild colors.

keywords: horsetail, fall, waterfall, firefall, el capitan, february, winter, sunset, dusk, rocks, cliff, light, granite, yosemite, valley, national park, california, usa, landscape, scenic, travel, mountains, stock, black and white