Tag Archives: valley

Cloud Shadows on North Dome

Cloud Shadows on North Dome
Cloud Shadows on North Dome. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud shadows cross the face of North Dome in late afternoon light. Mt. Hoffman in the distance. Photographed from Glacier Point.

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Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall

Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall
Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of morning light on the Merced River canyon leading into Yosemite Valley with Bridalveil Fall in the distance.

If you enter the park via state route 120 and head toward Yosemite Valley, after passing the exit to Foresta you cross a ridge and begin the descend toward the Valley. I almost always stop at this location right after the longer of the three tunnels on this section of roadway and enjoy the view straight up the Merced Canyon toward Bridalveil Fall and a point where the Valley bends to the right.

The more I see this photo, the more I like it. Yosemite is, obviously, a place with quite a few famous and iconic photographic subjects, but I don’t think this view – at least not in these conditions – is one of them. But it is a view that many of us know well, as it is along the main northerly entrance to the Valley and is one of the first open views down into the Merced River canyon and the Valley itself, albeit the lower section.

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Cloud Shadows on North Dome

Cloud Shadows on North Dome
Cloud Shadows on North Dome. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon cloud shadows race across the top of North Dome with Mount Hoffman beyond and Yosemite Valley below. Photographed from Glacier Point.

Mt. Hoffman is one of the most historic locations in the park. It was from Hoffman’s summit that members of the California Survey Party did much of their early mapping work in the 1800s. Today there is almost a trail to the summit – a steep but not overly difficult route (if you are used to off-trail alpine travel) from May Lake.

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Glacier Point, Late Afternoon

Glacier Point, Afternoon
Glacier Point, Late Afternoon. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of Glacier Point, strongly backlit by late afternoon light, with Yosemite Valley and Yosemite Falls beyond.

It is hard to imagine a more exposed or spectacular place to be than Glacier Point as the day comes to an end over the Yosemite Sierra. This photograph was made from this popular overlook high above the Valley, with strong backlight from the late afternoon sun and a bit of haze below.

(In my attempt to describe the precipitous location of this shot, this post originally contained a fun but accidental pun: ” This photograph – as exposed as it may seem…” To good to delete! ;-)

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