As my previous hint suggested, I did another one-day photographic trip yesterday - this one to Yosemite Valley to see autumn colors. Up at 3:15 a.m. and on the road before 4:00 a.m. I arrived at the park entrance at 7:00 a.m., still before sunrise. Since there wasn’t yet enought light to photograph dogwood leaves and other autumn foliage along highway 120 I went ahead to the first view of Half Dome and El Capitan and shot a few images there before heading back up 120 to spend some time on the foliage. Then I headed down into The Valley where I found the foliage in abundance - it was just about as colorful as I’ve ever seen in the Valley.
I started at El Capitan Meadow (after a short snooze to make up for my early rise time) where there are a bunch of really beautiful black oaks in the middle of golden grasses. I spent over two hours working this spot before heading on to the Curry Village area. I left the car here and did the “tourist hike” to Vernal Fall, hoping to photograph a tree at the base of the cliff at the fall. When I got back to car it was later than I expected and darkness was arriving a bit early, so I started back down the valley to try to grab a few late shots, but without a whole lot of success - the high overcast was now thicker and there wasn’t much of a sunset.
The light was challenging all with light overcast and occasionally thicker clouds. This is a mixed blessing - large scale scenic vistas were somewhat obscured by haze and flat light; on the other hand the softer light can work well with foliage and similar subjects.
I have posted a few examples in my Gallery - This link should get you to several of them.
Post a Comment