granite

December 11, 2011January 14, 2013

Seeking Originality In Yosemite Valley

A California black oak stands in a field of wild flowers. In the background an immense granite wall rises from Yosemite Valley.

This summer I spent some time with some old friends backpacking in the Yosemite high country. I love the high country any time of year, but especially in the summer, it offers a cooler respite to the throngs of visitors choking the roads of Yosemite Valley. However, one of my friends had not been to the park since he was a young child, and since we had a little time on our first day, we wanted to drive down in to the valley. I was game, but photographically, I was not expecting much. The valley was hot, had bad lighting midday, and several controlled burns were blowing smoke up the Merced, coating everything in a brown haze.

As we drove down into the valley, seeing all the tourists got me to thinking about originality and photographic vision. Here were millions of people getting out of their cars and taking essentially the same photo as the person they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with. I started to formulate a challenge in my mind – search for a photograph that captures some of the essence of Yosemite Valley, but keep it fresh and unexpected. I didn’t know if I could come away with something I was proud of, having been through the same area with my camera so many times before.

Luckily the natural world is ever changing and constantly brings new surprises at every bend. The first thing I noticed were all of the wildflowers blooming in the fields on the valley floor. The yellowing grass of late summer was punctuated by brighter yellow blooms, spattered throughout the fields with chaotic perfection. Suddenly three elements came together, and I knew I had the shot I was looking for. A California black oak stood apart from its neighbors, surrounded by intense wild flowers. Behind the tree rose an immense sheer wall of granite, juxtaposing the flowers with cool blues and grays. Here was the essential Yosemite Valley, captured in a way I had never done before.

I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face as I strolled back to the car – a great start to a great trip.

August 23, 2011January 14, 2013

Ten Lakes, Yosemite National Park

After waiting all summer for the snow to melt out of the high country, I finally ventured north of Tioga Road with some friends from college for a weekend backpacking trip. Instead of my usual high mileage days, our focus was on leisure time in the backcountry, which gave me plenty of time for photography. We hiked into the Ten Lakes region – an area featuring a chain of lakes with forested streams in between them, all draining into the Tuolumne River far below.

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We found a campsite at the far end of a small lake. The site was situated atop a thirty foot cliff, giving us a commanding view of the lake and surrounding cliffs. Behind us rose an unnamed granite peak, offering the camp a nice backdrop. Best of all however, was the nearby stream dropping from an upper lake into the lake below. There was an endless variety of small pools and cascades, giving me plenty of material to work with.

A stream runs between two lakes in the Ten Lakes chain, forming a small cascade, Yosemite National Park. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 50. Evaluative metering -2/3 EV: .6 sec. at f/16.

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Just before sunset on our first night, the clouds started moving in. While other campers might have cast a worrisome eye to the skies, I was elated. I knew that the chance for a dramatic sunset was greatly increased with the changing weather conditions, and thankfully I was rewarded with one. The best part – I only had to walk about ten yards from our campsite to get the view I wanted. Given it required almost no work on my part, I almost felt guilty.

The dramatic skies of sunset are reflected in one of lakes of the Ten Lakes chain, Yosemite National Park. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 100. Evaluative metering -2/3 EV: 2.5 sec. at f/16.

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The next morning was bright and clear. I woke up early to explore the area, and see what the morning had to offer. Our little lake looked quite different in the morning, and I took advantage of the still air to get a nice reflection in the background of a camp-side stream photo. I can never get enough of Sierra Nevada granite.

Trees and vegetation grow amid Sierra granite, Ten Lakes, Yosemite National Park. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 50. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1.3 sec. at f/16.

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Working my way up the stream, I found a spot where I could capture the running water with the peak that rose above our site.

A stream cascades down slabs of granite below an unnamed peak, Ten Lakes, Yosemite National Park. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 50. Evaluative metering -2 EV: .6 sec. at f/18.

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This day was a rest day – full of fishing and exploring some of the other lakes in the chain. Working our way up to a higher lake, we saw there were still huge slabs of snow right at the shoreline. Going higher still, we found a lake with no fish, but a perfect spot for a mid day swim. There is something very special about having an entire lake to yourself in the most populated state in the nation. Of course, along the way, I also had plenty more opportunities for photos.

A stream cascades through a forest in the Ten Lakes region of Yosemite National Park. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 50. Evaluative metering -2/3 EV: 1/6 sec. at f/16.

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After exhausting ourselves and getting a great night of sleep, it was time to head back to the real world. It was a great trip, with beautiful landscape and only seven miles of hiking each way. While the location was not as remote as most of my Sierra trips, I enjoyed the slower pace and additional time for photography. I’ll definitely have to work in more trips like this in the future!

August 20, 2010January 14, 2013

Lightplay On Granite (Photo of the week)

As the sun sets, it casts one final beam across wild lupine and granite boulders, Sierra National Forest, CA

This week’s photo is all about light. If you take away the dramatic lighting effects from this photo, you are left with something pretty mundane – a forest and some rocks. But with the sun filtering through the trees as a star burst, lighting the granite boulders and contrasting them with the darker forest, an interesting image is born.

Before this composition found me, I was pointing my camera in the opposite direction and quickly becoming uninspired. Sure, I was shooting from the edge of a cliff and had a large, open, forested valley below me, but no specific feature stood out and grabbed my attention. I turned around and saw that the sun was setting behind the trees, and knew then that I would use sunlight as my subject.

It didn’t take much hunting around to find this line of granite boulders illuminated by the setting sun. Now I had a decision to make – include the sun in the image or not? Since I was shooting at f/16 (as I often do with landscapes), I knew I’d get a nice, tight star burst effect from the sun. I ultimately decided to include it in the image because I wanted to balance the lower right of the image which included a lot of light, with the light of the sun in the upper left.

Another thing to worry about when shooting into the sun is that the camera’s meter ~~can~~ will be thrown off. If I shot this at the camera’s recommended shutter speed (I was in aperture priority), the forest would have been rendered brighter and the granite would have been completely blown out. I dropped the exposure compensation by two stops, which gave me a photo much closer to what I was seeing with my eyes.

I am pretty happy with the result. It is not the typical grandiose landscape typical of Sierra photography, but a more intimate scene. Hopefully it conveys more than just the visual aspect, but a real sense of place – the distant echos of forest birds, the sharp smell of pine needles, the thumping of the heart at high elevations. Ultimately for me, it was my latest reminder that when in doubt, I should always follow the light.

August 5, 2010January 14, 2013

Food poisoning, ten hours of driving, and all I got were these lousy photographs!

A forest of pine covers the floor of Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park

It all started out well enough. My friend Steve and I headed out of town last Thursday night for what looked like a wonderfully scenic three-day backpacking trip. We were going to start in Sierra National Forest, loop into southern Yosemite, and then into Ansel Adams Wilderness. The drive went well, the 30 miles of dirt road were easier than we were expecting, and we found a nice spot to disperse camp at the trail head.

Then, sitting around the campfire before bed, my stomach started feeling pretty bad. I thought maybe it was the altitude, as we were camped above 8000 feet. I went to bed expecting to acclimatize over night and feel better in the morning. Wrong – I felt worse. I’ll spare you the details, but it soon became apparent that I couldn’t hold anything down, including water. My head was pounding with dehydration. Definitely no way to start a rigorous 15+ mile day!

From Glacier Point, the visitor is granted views of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, and the Yosemite high country.

After much deliberation, we decided to skip the trip and pack it in. Thankfully, Steve is one of those easy-going guys who can be very flexible when plans need to change. We were both disappointed, but agreed to tackle the trip another time. Since we were close to Yosemite, we decided to pop into the park for some quick vistas before heading back to the Bay Area.

Trees grow out of rounded granite overlooking Nevada Falls from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park

So, okay, the photographs I took weren’t “lousy”, but not really what I was expecting from a trip into the backcountry. I much prefer photographing areas with few or no people – preferably that are hard to get to. As it was, we were stuck with what is the hustle and bustle of a Yosemite vista point in mid-summer. In general, I tend to stay away from these spots for two reasons. First, they are frequently crowded to the point that it breaks my ability to connect with the nature that surrounds me. Getting out into the Sierra only to see people pushing and shoving to get a view (Glacier Point, anyone?) is not my idea of solitude! Second, from a photographic standpoint, I don’t like taking photos that have literally been taken millions of times before.

Although this landscape has been captured by cameras millions of times, it is still beautiful to behold

Needless to say, I was in a bad mood heading back last Friday. However, after getting home and processing the photos I took, I was reminded why all those people were there. Everyone can get to these spots, and they are among the most beautiful in the world. I remember the first time I saw Yosemite and how awe-struck I was. I would never want to deny anyone else that same experience, no matter how grumpy I get from a missed backpacking trip. After all, there is a reason they call these scenic vista points.