If you are a Yosemite aficionado, someone who loves the Sierra back-country, or a lover of great landscape photography, I recommend this book. The five photographers have a tremendous amount of experience in the Yosemite back-country, and all five are talented and highly-regarded photographers in their own right. (I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a bit of time with them “on location” in recent years.)
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
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. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
Black and white photograph of North Dome and bare winter trees reflected in the Merced River near the swinging bridge, Yosemite Valley, California.
After first getting distracted by dawn light on Yosemite Falls – and joining a small throng of other photographers shooting this exact same subject (he writes, somewhat embarrassed… ;-) – I pulled myself together and wandered off along the Merced on this frosty morning looking for scenes that were a bit less obvious. I’m not going to claim that this one is completely non-iconic – I can’t since North Dome, in the upper center of the frame, is a fairly well known feature of the Valley. However, the thing that mostly caught my attention here was the skeletal shapes of the dormant trees along the Merced River and the way they lined up across the scene creating some interesting symmetries and forms against the background of the upper end of The Valley.
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.
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.
