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| Tenaya Lake |
I’m on my own now. No
instructor to answer my questions on lighting, composition, what lens to use
and no one to set the schedule to be on the road by 0500!
When I registered for the photography workshop I didn’t consider going to Yosemite. I didn’t realize how close it is to where the workshop is being held. I have seen photos and while it looks impressive it was never high on my list of places to see.
After speaking with one of my coworkers, who goes there each year, I decided to research further. Yosemite Valley is only about two hours from Mono Lake and Lee Vining taking the Tioga Pass road. That’s two hours without stopping to make images every time there is a place to stop. It took me over three hours to make the two hour trip.
I only made a few stops on my way to the Valley; Lembert
Dome with a short walk along the Tuolomne River, Tenaya Lake and Olmsted
Point. This landscape is on a different
scale than NM, it is larger with more details to enjoy. I have never seen such large outcroppings of
bare granite.
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| Tenaya Lake |
When I got to Olmsted Point I knew I was getting close to
the Valley. I could see Half Dome, “It
must be close” I told myself. I drove
for another hour before arriving at Yosemite Valley.
I have read several books on Yosemite Valley and studied
Google earth to get the layout of the valley but it does not compare to seeing
it in person. I kept saying ‘WOW’ while
I was making my way though the valley.
There is forest everywhere with meadows scattered here and there
providing glimpses of the 3,000’ – 4,000’ high valley walls. Visiting in October means smaller crowds; I can
actually find parking places at each of my stops, but it also means little to
no water flowing over the falls. There
was no water going over Yosemite Fall and very little over Bridalveil, Nevada
or Vernal Falls. The Merced River is
very low; I think with a bit of boulder hopping one could get across the river
without getting wet. Even with the low
water flow it is still worth the trip!
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| Half Dome from Olmsted Point |
I’m staying at the Yosemite Falls Lodge in the center of
Yosemite Valley. I asked for an upper
room, it was quite spacious with a wall separating the shower and bath room
area from the main room. There is a
balcony looking out over my little part of the valley which I used several
times.
After getting into the room I immediately loaded up my
camera pack and scouted for prime photo locations. I used my Garmin GPS receiver just to make
sure I could find my way back. It has
been a long time since I have seen deer so close. There were small groups lounging in the
meadow as groups of people stopped for photo ops. I even remembered to get out my IPhone to
shoot some videos as other deer were dining on local flora. (I still can’t get used to using my phone as
a camera, especially when I am carrying a DSLR on my hip.)
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| Milky Way from Yosemite Valley |
Later that evening I strolled to the meadow near the
Swinging Bridge. The skies in
Albuquerque are not nearly dark enough to make any decent photos of the night sky,
let alone the Milky Way. I donned my
headlamp and brought my Garmin again. I
don’t want to be wandering the Yosemite Valley this night searching for my
room! The moon doesn’t come up for
several hours so the sky is dark enough to see the Milky Way. As far as I could tell I was the only human
out there that night, I’m not certain if there were any other creatures out
there wondering what I was doing. I didn't stay long; I want to get up early tomorrow morning to shoot sunrise in
Yosemite Valley.
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
beautiful!
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