Last day in Yosemite...

Well today was my last full day in Yosemite. I decided to visit Vernal Fall and captured this rainbow. There was still snow left near the base from yesterday's snow fall. I've never seen snow there before, so it was a nice change.

Winter Wonderland... Yosemite

Last night about 10PM I lost my satellite internet signal, figured it was the weather. When I woke up I found out I was right, there was 2 inches of snow stuck to my dish! I took a lot of pictures today and these are just a few. I chose to convert some to black and white because the whole scene was so monochromatic. Lower Yosemite Falls is pictured above and the Yosemite Chapel is below.

Lower Yosemite Falls and the Middle Cascades

Lower Yosemite Falls in black and white

Wile E. Coyote

Well, I got the issue with the card reader fixed, with some help from the SanDisk support page. This coyote approached the cars parked at the Gates of the Valley turnout. Some people were calling it, like a dog, I guess to feed it. People do some foolish things in national parks!

Yosemite

I've been in Yosemite for a few days now and have had technical problems so I haven't posted any new images yet. So far I have only been able to download one CF card and can't get the reader to read anymore cards. Luckily I have enough cards to last the rest of my stay! I did manage to get this image off the card before the reader apparently died. It's Upper Yosemite Falls with rainbow lighting in the mist.

Beacon Hill Gallery Opening

Tonight was the grand opening of the Beacon Hill Gallery. We had a good turnout and several of us sold some work. To see the images from my showing, go here: Beacon Hill Gallery Images

Owens River Valley

In preparation for a gallery exhibit I will be displaying I have been editing photos from last year. This image was captured near Lone Pine, CA and shows the Owens River (somewhat tamed here thanks to the LADWP) at sunset. I will be participating in the grand opening of the Beacon Hill Gallery this weekend. Please feel free to drop in Fri 5-9, Sat 12-7 or Sun 12-5. 1762 Fourth Street, Norco, CA, behind Carl's Jr.

Sunset on Half Dome

As I set up in the meadow this evening to photograph late afternoon light, I was at first disappointed because it seemed that clouds would prevent alpenglow from lighting up Half Dome. I waited patiently as a cloud moved across the face of the 8,000ft high cliff. Then, as if on cue, the upper half of the dome lit up with warm light just after sunset. This shot was taken at the height of that show. This is not a computer "trick" but a real phenomenon that occurs when warm sunset light strikes high altitude objects such as the face of Half Dome.

El Capitan and Half Dome

El Capitan and Half Dome appear next to each other in this photo, but they are actually miles apart. Half Dome is 5 miles further away from the camera in this shot. This photo was taken at sunset.

This shot was taken the same night as the Half Dome shot with the clouds. The moon has just risen and it appears as a blank disk because the moon is many times brighter than the landscape. To show detail in the moon would require an exposure too short to show any detail in the foreground.

Great Horned Owl

This owl was sitting in a tree high above the road near the Yosemite Falls bus stop. I used a 600mm telephoto lens to capture this shot. The owl sat with its eyes closed most of the time, except when other birds, such as ravens flew by. At one point a woman with a stroller walked by and the owl seemed very interested!

Lower Yosemite Falls

I hiked up the side and beyond lower Yosemite Falls to get this shot from behind looking down to the valley floor.

Horsetail Fall

Horsetail Fall in Yosemite is a small ephemeral fall on the east shoulder of El Capitan. If it is too cold in late Feb or early March, it won't flow, but if there is a good snowfall, followed by a warm day or two, it will start flowing. The sun sets just at the right angle this time of year to back light the fall. This phenomena attracts dozens of photographers every year. It was first photographed by Galen Rowell in the early 1970's.

Yosemite National Park

Yesterday I arrived in Yosemite National Park. I had to wait a few days beyond my planned arrival due to a big snow storm. The campground is basically deserted, there were 3 people here when I arrived and a few more have arrived for the weekend. Today is the day of the full moon and I went to Tunnel View to try and capture it rising above Half Dome. There were about 30 other photographers there, all with tripods. The clouds blocked the rising moon, but I did get this shot among others.