Tag Archives: horsetail

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 (#3)

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Horsetail Fall, Sunset (#3)
Horsetail Fall, Sunset (#3)

Horsetail Fall, Sunset (#3. Yosemite Valley, California. February 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Photograph of Horsetail Fall – the “natural firefall” – along the eastern end of the face of El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, California.

I made this photograph from “the other” vantage point for viewing the winter Horsetail Fall light show. I’ve shot this subject a few times in the past, but always from the general area of the picnic area at base of the east end of El Capitan. Since I thought the light might be good on this evening I decided to try the location along Southside Drive at a point between the crossover road near El Capitan and the start of the Four Mile Trail where many people photograph this scene. Yeah, it is an icon. What can I say? (Well, I can say that my favorite photograph from this particular trip to the Valley is actually a black and white image of a couple branches of a dormant fern plant – but that’s a different photo and a different story.)

This location – I’ll call it the “Merced River location” – is popular among Horsetail Fall photographers for several reason. For one it is very accessible. To be blunt, you can find a shot within a few seconds walk from your car! (Unless you arrive late and all the parking is gone, a distinct possibility in such a popular spot, especially if you go on a weekend when the sunset light hits the fall.) It also provides a different sort of view of the fall. While the view from right beneath El Capitan tends to provide a slightly wider and closer view of the upper fall, this one provides a clear view of a greater portion of the fall along with the little valley above the fall. And because it is a bit further east, you are looking at the fall more from the side. This means that when things work out just right the brilliantly lit fall becomes a very thin stream against the much darker background rock.

The light on this evening was perhaps not quite “classic” Horsetail light. There was some nice color, but the light faded before it became brilliantly colorful. It seemed like perhaps the sun (which is itself not visible to photographers from here) might have passed behind some distant clouds in the west just before reaching the horizon. The development of the brilliant sunset color was somewhat muted when this happened.

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 360mm
ISO 200, f/11, 1/50 second

keywords: yosemite, national, park, valley, california, usa, north america, nature, winter, horsetail, fall, waterfall, water, gold, molten, light, sunset, dusk, glow, fire, firefall, cliff, el, capitan, cap, face, crack, water, spray, mist, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, february, stock

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

News, Workshops

Yosemite Valley Photography Workshops: Walklet and Frye

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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.