Snow dusts winter oak trees in El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley.
A thick-trunk mature black oak fringed with snow stands in front of a grove of smaller oaks in El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley. The small branches in the upper part of the tree are so thick that they almost create a cloud-like effect in this light, as the low angle winter sun leaves the Valley floor in shadow. A few leaves still remain on the lower branches of the tree.
Black oak trees with a few remaining autumn leaves in foggy and snow-covered El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite Valley.
I’m always fascinated by the trees in El Capitan Meadow – it doesn’t matter whether it is spring when the meadow is green and the trees are getting new leaves, summer when the meadow is filled with people watching climbers overhead on El Capitan, fall when the grasses turn golden and the leaves change to fall colors, or winter when the meadow may be snow-covered. Sometimes I tell myself that I’m just going to drive past on my way to another destination, but I almost always end up stopping for a least a brief look around – and I frequently end up making a few photographs.
That was the case on this mid-January day, when I drove through on my way to make photographs up on Crane Flat Road. As I passed by the meadow I noticed that low fog was floating above the snow, so I pulled over to look at the scene more closely. I was somewhat surprised to see how many leaves were still hanging on the oak trees so late in the season, and I decided to try to find a photograph that would include them, along with the snow and a bit of the fog and the dark shapes of the tree trunks.
Trees grow out of a small winter melt-water pool in Yosemite Valley, California.
As I drove down the Valley I spotted this very quiet seasonal pool that was reflecting the forms of the forest trees in the soft late-afternoon light. As the temperature dropped there was just the slightest hint of shallow fog starting to form above the surface of the water.
If you are the type who reads the “technical data” accompanying the photos you perhaps notice the unusual choice of lens for this photograph. You might also be surprised at just how often I use a long lens, even this 100-400 zoom, for landscape subjects. Besides getting me “closer” to subjects that would otherwise be out of reach – that was the case here where there was water between me and the trees – the longer lenses also compress the contents of the scene and can also help eliminate elements that would otherwise distract from the main scene.
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.
Photographing Horsetail Fall has increasingly become “the thing to do” in Yosemite Valley for quite a few photographers this time of year. Horsetail is a seasonal waterfall that drops from near the eastern end of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, and for a few weeks each winter may catch the setting sun to produce quite a visual show when the conditions are just right. I’m not going to offer a how-to for photographing Horsetail – good ones are available elsewhere, and as beautiful as the sight can be, I have a sort of “been there, done that” attitude towards it at this point.
Which is not to say that I won’t point my camera that direction if I find myself in the area! I did so for a few minutes last weekend, even though it was well before the time when the sunset show begins, and even though it was the middle of the afternoon. I happened to be photographing something else below the fall and after I finished I looked up and noticed that the flow of water over Horsetail was as strong as I’ve seen it. I had a long lens on the camera, so I pointed it up and made a few photographs.
Here is the odd thing… In the photographs made with this telephoto lens I can clearly see that a long climbing rope ascends from the right to the first ledge that the water hits, crosses the ledge, and continues its ascent to the left of the fall. It appears to be a fixed rope that someone left in place, and I can only wonder about possible explanations. Did someone have to leave it behind earlier in the season? Did someone leave it with the intention of coming back and traversing through the fall?
If it does remain much longer, there may be some disappointed photographers who find a glowing rope draped across their photographs of the fall this season…
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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