An unusual June snowstorm closed the high roads of the Sierra, so I headed to Yosemite to see what I could find! The first in a LONG series. No HDR.
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 17 (as wide as it goes!)
1/4-second exposure @F13 (It is 20 minutes before sunset)
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm) 0.9 + 0.75
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
ISO 200 (I wanted to keep the exposure short)
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
Mirror Lake is a short 2-mile hike from the nearest trailhead but it seems a thousand miles away from the Yosemite crowds. As I headed up, everyone was heading down so I had this place all to myself. I was quite surprised. While mirror lake is accurately named, I still had to wait for the breeze to calm down for get these reflections. When it was windy, I put on my very dark filter for some 30-second exposures with streaking clouds and water which look totally surreal. I'll show those later.
I can not emphazise enough the importance of weather and light when trying to get a nice-looking photo. I have tried this very shot under clear skies and the dynamic range is just too much for the camera to handle. But here, the light is more soft and even. So, no need for HDR
The map shows exactly where this is.
See my Flickr profile for a link to my website where I have limited edition prints and less expensive open edition prints.
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Tags: landscape sky rock grass mirror lake yosemite california sierra half dome watkins travel vacation paradise usa wallpaper geotagged 5d canon mkII granite reflection nature sunset art
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Yosemite's lowest hanging fruit, the Valley View pullout..lol... It is amazing how this scene is just handed to you on a silver platter. But I chose to come here when the light was good and the water was flowing well. And I had to do some risky moves to get out to this spot. No HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/360139158...
Also, I am a winner in the 2009 Natures Best Ocean Views contest. This photo was a winner! The print looks a LOT better than the Flickr upload for some reason.
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 20 (very wide but it still all just barely fits in!)
1-second exposure @F16
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm) 0.9 + 0.75
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
ISO 50
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
This is the classic view along the river near the entrance to the valley. Even though there is a nice car park just 100 feet away from where I set the tripod, there was not another person in sight during nearly this entire sunset. I'm not sure why. Probably because it had been raining and even snowing above 6,000 feet elevation until about 20 minutes before I made this image. It was looking almost hopeless, but I could see openings in the clouds developing. And this spot seemed to have the best chance for the best light. I had other plans for sunset, but the light was bad there. Everything in the frame seemed alive, from the rock and grass in front, to the rapids in the middle, to the light on El Capitan and Bridalveil valls.
Of course I could not just put the tripod on the concrete sidewalk and take the shot. I carefully composed this scene after waiting for about 30 minutes on a slippery small rock where you had to jump across several other slippery rocks. I should have just taken my shoes off but standing on river-bottom rock for 30 minutes would have torn my feet up and it was snowing at 6,000 feet elevation at this time even though it was June. So the water was cold! Yes, I should get wellies...
I wanted to show the grasses close up, along with the orange reflections on the right. And all the way to 1612 ft. Ribbon Falls in the upper left. The highest freestanding waterfall in North America just beating out Upper Yosemite Falls. Earlier there were some guys with big 8x10 view cameras fiddling around on the sidewalk for quite a long time. They could not have made this image with their clumsy equipment, believe me!
The map shows exactly where this is. Just downstream from the pullout about 100 feet.
See my Flickr profile for a link to my website where I have limited edition prints and less expensive open edition prints.
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Tags: yosemite el capitan bridal veil falls grass granite merced river landscape sky rock california sierra water nature travel vacation paradise usa waterfall pine cedar ribbon falls wallpaper geotagged canon 5d mkII sunset BRAVO PhotoContest-TNC09 art bestwishes-TNC09
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Yosemite's Tuolumne river flows through the meadow early in the morning on June 16th. There was snow overnight here at 9,000 feet above sea level, but it melted in the rain as I hiked out here before sunrise. No HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/364398562...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 37
25-second exposure @F16
Hoya ndx-400 10-stop filter - Very dark!
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm) 0.9 + 0.75
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
No polarizer! I wanted reflections to add realistic texture.
ISO 50
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
Tuolumne meadows is just about 15 miles from Yosemite Valley but it takes over an hour to drive here because there is no direct route and you must go from 4,000 feet above sea level in the vally to nearly 9,000 feet here. It is an all day hike if you go that route. I stayed overnight in a tent nearby to be here before sunrise. The weather is much different at this elevation, with snow at any time of the year! It was 5 days from the longest day of the year and spring is just arriving in the spongy tundra-like soil.
It was a nice sunrise, but the best light happened here about 30 minutes after sunrise as the light filtered through the trees in the background. I found this composition and stuck with it. I had to wait for quite a while it seemed for the light to spread into the right places. I wanted a dark background and brighter bushes in front so show how dramatic it feels to be here.
Almost everything was moving from the clouds, to the bushes and water. I used a very dark filter so that I could make a very long exposure with relatively bright light. The long exposure was the best way to show just how much movement there was.
Also, the long exposure time smoothed out the water so you can see the bottom of the river like I could. A shorter exposure time would freeze the motion and obscure the view of the rocky bottom. With my eyes, I could see the bottom as the water flowed along. So for me, this is more realistic than a shorter exposure with the water frozen in place. I can still imagine the water flowing over that rock in front!
The map shows exactly where this is. It is a 1-mile hike from the nearest road.
See my Flickr profile for a link to my website where I have limited edition prints and less expensive open edition prints.
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Tags: landscape sky rock grass yosemite tuolumne river water long exposure snow meadow travel vacation nature usa california pine tree cloud 5d mkII canon Ostrellina —ObraMaestra— PhotoContest-TNC11
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This will be in the 2011 Nature Conservancy 2011 calendar!
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=bestnature200...
And this photo is in the 2010 nature Conservancy calendar for November:
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/275016883...
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Here is a 30-second slice of the history of Yosemite's glacier-formed and weather eroded Half Dome. As I watched the clouds streak by, I could really imagine how this place was formed over the eons. No HDR.
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/366544232...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 19 (very wide to get it all into the frame)
30-second exposure @F13
Hoya ndx-400 10-stop filter - Very dark for long exposures in daylight.
2 hours before sunset when the light is still on the cliff face.
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm) 0.9 + 0.75
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
No polarizer. I wanted reflections in the water
ISO 100 (a higher ISO to keep it at 30sec-F13 where the lens is very sharp)
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
The clouds were moving quickly over the top of Half Dome, and the light looked good on the rock face. So I put on my dark filter to make a long exposure. Over the course of 30 seconds, the clouds moved a lot and the shadows of the clouds made for some good light across the face of the cliffs. And the moving trees and reflections softened in the reflected light from above.
This part of The Tenaya River is called Mirror Lake because is is often calm and reflective. But the wind softened the light falling on the water. The long exposure shows that soft light much better than a shorter one which would show the frozen choppy water. Sometimes a long exposure feels more realistic than a shorter one!
I do have some shots that are completely reflective when the wind calmed down. The effect is striking too.
The map shows exactly where this is. It is a 1-mile hike from the nearest road.
See my Flickr profile for a link to my newly designed website.
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Tags: landscape sky rock grass half dome yosemite mirror lake water granite reflection long exposure travel vacation merced river tenaya pine cottonwood california sierra nature paradise usa river lake geotagged 5d canon mkII sunset cloud clouds PhotoContest-TNC09 art bestwishes-TNC09
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It was a misty and foggy sunrise at 2425 foot Yosemite Falls. Here, only the bottom 320 feet are visible but it is still an impressive waterfall when the volume is high, like on this morning. No HDR.
Free wallpaper for over 100 of my images in 6 different screen sizes is now available!
See the 1200 pixel version!
www.flickr.com/photos/patrick-smith-photography/371016489...
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Settings etc.:
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Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 20 (very wide to get it all into the frame)
1.0-second exposure @F20 (only 1 sec to show movement and show detail too)
10 minutes after sunrise
LEE soft ND grad (100x150mm) 0.9
Lee foundation kit filter holder with Lee 77mm adapter ring
No polarizer.
ISO 50
Small Slik tripod with Manfrotto pistol grip ball head
An umbrella with a towel to cover the camera
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
I think that a misty rainy day is the best time to capture a tall waterfall like this. There is more atmosphere, the mist from the falls shows up better and the soft light accentuates the color. The problem comes when you are trying to hop across slippery rocks with an umbrella and the tripod in one hand and a long walking stick for balance in the other hand. I'm glad that nobody saw me. There was nobody here at this time because of the rain and the time of day. Usually this place is crawling with tourists.
I used a 1 second exposure because a shorter exposure would freeze the water in place and a longer one turned the water into milk. This length allowed the water to paint the lower part of the image for me.
Can you believe that the waterfall you see is actually just the bottom 10% of the entire falls? The rest is hidden in the mist above.
The map shows exactly where this is. It is an easy 0.5-mile hike from the nearest road.
See my Flickr profile for a link to my newly designed website.
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Tags: landscape rock grass yosemite yosemite falls waterfall river water granite travel vacation pine cedar canyon canon geotagged 5d mkII nature paradise usa california FrHwoFavs art PhotoContest-TNC11
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