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Thinking of Photographing Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall?

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Horsetail Fall. Yosemite National Park, California. February 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Horsetail Fall. Yosemite National Park, California. February 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

During the second half of the winter season the setting sun lines up just right to cast a final beam of light onto a southwest-facing portion of El Capitan. When conditions are just right the snow-filled area above El Capitan warms a bit at about this time and seasonal Horsetail Fall may drop over the edge of El Capitan. If everything falls in place just so, the beam of warm sunset light strikes the upper portion of the fall, and if  you happen to be in the right areas in the Valley you can witness what has been called the “Yosemite’s natural firefall.”

If you are thinking of going to witness this event, whether as a photographer or just as a viewer, you might want to follow Edie Howe’s Little Red Tent blog. Edie lives in the Valley, and is known for posting firsthand reports on conditions that may – or may not – produce this seasonal spectacle. (If you want to see the light on Horsetail Fall, you should be aware that conditions have to be just right – and your chances improve if you have some travel flexibility and can be there for more than one day.)

Any post on this phenomenon should acknowledge Galen’s Rowell’s famous photograph of Horsetail Fall, and the fact that any later photograph of this scene will unavoidably be compared to his image.

Photographs: Yosemite

Horsetail Fall, Sunset (Black and White)

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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.

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