Yosemite is one of those places that defies written description. How do you convey the spectacle of El Capitan rising from the valley floor? How could I possibly tell you what it’s like to look out from Glacier Point as the rising sun casts its golden rays across the granite peaks, sheer cliffs and sheltered valleys? I can produce sentences packed with adjectives, but they’d all fall short. Instead, I’m going to share a selection of the images I mad in Yosemite during my short visit at the end of September. Perhaps my photos will give you a better sense of the grandeur of this amazing place.
Half Dome is iconic and whenever it’s visible, you just can’t help but stare at the monolith. When Jeff and I were atop Glacier Point photographing the sunrise Half Dome dominated the scene. After the sun had come up, I switched to my telephoto lens and shot some close-ups of the dome. With the low-angle light of the rising sun hitting it, Half Dome looked to me like the head of an eagle, with the projecting “beak” pointing up to the left. I liked how the light was shining on the polished granite and was focused on that until I realized my 400mm lens was picking up the forms of the people atop the dome enjoying the sunrise. Can you see them? There are two right on top and a bunch more over on the beak.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Jeff and I woke up early (4am early) and drove from our camp site on the valley floor to Glacier Point. The drive is about an hour so we arrived before sunrise and had some fleeting moments with the stars before they faded in the pre-dawn light. This may be my favorite image from Yosemite.
Glacier Point is made for times like this. As the sun rose over Yosemite, we had the best seats in the house. One of the benefits of visiting Yosemite in the shoulder seasons is the lack of crowds. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that we claimed these prime spots before most people woke up that day. You can see my camera set up to take panorama images. For those shots, I used the brilliant Sony 50mm F1.2 GM lens on my A7RIV body. The resulting multi-shot composite images are massive files.
I wish my website server could handle the full-resolution file of this shot. This one is presented here at 2600 pixels wide, but the full image spans 29,769 pixels. It’s comprised of 38 vertical images that overlap to form this wide-view panorama. I really enjoy making these sweeping shots. The meditative shoot-pan-shoot process is satisfying and I love having all of these pixels to work with.
Much of our time in Yosemite found us cloaked in wildfire smoke, but even in those hazy times I was able to find interesting compositions. This shot from the valley floor captures the gritty jumble of geology that makes Yosemite so fascinating. I could sit and stare at the cracked spires, cliffs and domes of Yosemite for days. Our time there was far to brief.
Pre-dawn runs to Glacier Point lead to afternoon naps in the valley. Our camp site was in the Lower Pines Campground, part of the sprawling Curry Village area. From my hammock I could see the viewpoint atop Glacier Point, 3,000 feet up. The wildfire smoke that kept our days in Yosemite hazy and fragrant did not spoil our morning at Glacier Point, but certainly put a damper on all of our other excursions.
We spent two days in the Valley of Yosemite, and both were pretty smokey. Large fires in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to our south send a steady flow of smoke our way for much of our trip.
A short stroll across a meadow from our camp was Curry Village and its grocery store, coffee shop and pizza joint. Jeff and I spent part of an afternoon there eating pizza, charging devices and resting.
El Capitan is stunning. Perhaps not as much as Half Dome, but every bit as grand. On our final evening of our time in the valley, we searched the meadows below El Cap looking for compositions. I loved how the big pine trees dotting the meadows mimicked the verticality of the sheer face of El Capitan.
Far above the valley floor, climbers work their way up El Capitan’s face. Rock climbing is a spectator sport in the valley, with crowds fo people gathering in the meadows to watch these daring athletes inch their way up the vertical wall. These two were hauling up several giant bags of gear, which tells me they plan to spend a few days tackling the ascent. If you’ve not seen the amazing movie, “Free Solo” starring Alex Honnold, you should do so ASAP. It document’s Honnold’s incredible unroped race up El Cap in just under three hours.
On our way out of Yosemite, we drove up and over the Tioga road through the high country of the park. At sunrise, the wildfire smoke blanketing the area turned the sun into a red ball in a cinnamon sky.