YOSEMITE - TUES. FEB 19

Well the snow did not materialize early this morning. We were allowed to sleep in with breakfast being at 0700. We had fog and drizzle at that time.

We had a good breakfast as most all of us would be on the road or flying home during the rest of the day. As you all know airport food is

not the greatest, and those of us driving back to San Diego just nibble

along the way on snacks.

We valiantly tried to get into the Mariposa Grove for some photography, but they had already closed the road in anticipation of the upcoming storm. As a result we easily made it to Fresno for Mark and John’s flights out.

The drive South to San Diego went smoothly through a few rain showers. When we stopped North of the Grapevine on Rte. I-5 the weather was typical for this time of year, cold, windy, and generally raw. We asked the clerk at the gas station what their forecast was, and the reply was “Up to 18 inches of snow, with wind gusts to 70 mph. To say the least we were happy to get back on the road, and head for home before the snow started to fall.

The drive through the Pasadena area was a drag! Slow to crawling. Once over on I-15 it was pretty smooth driving. Got home about 1830. It was good to be home, but it was a wonderful trip.

The last photographs to be added will come in a day.  

Hope you all enjoyed the journey.

The next journey starts in two weeks when I head to Fairbanks, AK to

photograph the Northern Lights.  

YOSEMITE - Monday Feb 18

Hi ALL,

I again apologize on the meager entry for today. We were out shooting until after sunset, and then there was a long dinner hour. This all culminated with our trying to figure out tomorrow morning's routine.

There is a good chance of snow possibly starting as early as 0300. If this happens we are going to be off at 0500 to try and capture some of the snow in the Valley before we have to get people to the airport in Fresno by 1100. If the snow holds off until later in the morning we will sleep in a bit and
go to the Redwood Grove in the Wawona area to photograph the big trees with a meager amount of snow around them.

Therefore, I will continue to be overdue in downloading pictures to this site and giving you a better report of this adventure.

The next entry to the blog will be on Friday after two days of rest and recovery and cleaning up from this trip. Thank you for staying with me on the journey.

Nancy

Lower Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Falls

Young Mule Deer

Mule Deer Portrait

Bridal Veil Falls

 

Bridal Veil Falls Monochrome

Water Study 1

Water Study 2

Water Study 3

Water Study 4

Valley View 1

Valley View 2

YOSEMITE - SUN 17 FEB

Sorry that this will be a bit brief but it is already 2300 and I need to get a good night's sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be another full day starting at 0700 and going to about 1900 when we return to the Tenaya Lodge for dinner, etc.

This morning started with the hopes of some clouds for a sunrise. That did not happen. Though we were up and ready to go at 0600, the plan was changed to breakfast at 0700. After getting our gear all packed away we were off for some photography of some fast water on the Merced with reflected light coloring the water. It was a lot of fun and we spent about 4 hours exploring and making images.

We had decided to go in quest of Horsetail Falls at sunset. The problem was there were hundreds of other photographers doing the same thing. Then there was also the President's Day Weekend crowd which all added up to traffic jams and parking jams. We finally set up about 1.5 hours ahead of time with at least a hundred of our "dearest friends"! We then had to mull around waiting for the event. The event came and went and was a let down. I got a couple of shots but it really is a bit of a trick to get it right, and I did not succeed.  There was very little water which made it a disappointment as well. I will probably post something tomorrow evening as I have just started the download process.

Please be patient and return to the site for a couple more days to see the fun I have had.

Upper Yosemite Falls with Frost

Doe

Horsetail Falls

YOSEMITE - Saturday, Feb. 16th

SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY 16TH

The plan for the morning was breakfast and then go out and photograph water in subdued light, etc. Well, we woke up to some very high light clouds, so that when we assembled for breakfast we did not go there. Instead we grabbed our gear and headed to the "Swinging Bridge", which is no longer swinging, to photograph Yosemite Falls in early morning light with the Falls reflected in the Merced River as it flowed below our feet.

There were quite a few others out with the same idea. Even so we all got some satisfactory photos. As we had started out a gentvasked if we had photographed Horsetail Falls last night. I said that no we had not, because there was no water coming over the Falls. Well, I was wrong, and he said he had actually seen photos by another photographer who had captured the event. Laterwe saw Michael Frye's Blog with his photo taken at 1745. He commented on his blog that the "flow was still disappointingly meager."We discussed trying to capture the Falls this evening. It was decided that if it looked very promising we would go for it, along with hundreds of others who are here for this event. NPS actually blocks off a lane of traffic for parking for those gathering for the event. We saw people gathering a good one and a half hours before the time to get into position.

We attended a reception for Michael Frye at the Ansel Adams Gallery around mid-day. Michael is the resident photographer here in Yosemite and works out of the Ansel Adams Gallery. He is also the author on "The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite N.P. About 1530 we were off to photograph a couple of locations. As there was some high cloudiness, Mark did a scouting mission to Tunnel
View for Sunset with some clouds, while we revisited Bridal Veil Falls and captured a couple more photographs of a spray rainbow in Bridal Veil Falls. The light was most promising for a sunset with some clouds to add interest so we went to Tunnel View for sunset. (IF tomorrow is clear in the afternoon, we will chase the light for Horsetail Falls.)

The sunset was good. There must have been at least 50 photographers with tripods lined up photographing. It was worth the choice. Afterwards we were off to the Lodge for a fairly early dinner and a quiet evening. We opted to try the Yosemite Lounge for dinner. After a disorganized waiting period we finally got two tables to accommodate the six of us. It was nice to eat  at someplace other than the "Food Court" though the time waiting was a bit annoying. The food was good though.

This evening I spent time downloading today's photographs, and starting the packing for tomorrow's move to the Tenaya Lodge for two nights. We will have to check out of the Yosemite Lodge by 1100. We will spend the rest of the day in Yosemite Valley photographing, and will not go to the Tenaya Lodge until after sunset photography.

Upper Yosemite Falls from Swinging Bridge

Yosemite Falls from Swinging Bridge

Raven Duo

Spray Bow, Bridal Veil Falls

Evening Color, Tunnel View

Sunset on Half Dome and Clouds' Rest

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH

FRIDAY IN THE VALLEY ….

We were up and out the door at 0645 to catch gold light reflected in the Merced from the sun reflecting off of El Capitan. It was a good location but treacherous under foot due to the mild winter. What snow was there had thawed and then frozen for several days. With my rubber boots it was like skating at times, and not on a level playing field. I took a fall and ended up with a sprained wrist only. Then later during the day I took another tumble but with no ill effects. All of it made me very leary about walking on the snow even with my leather boots on that have a decent tread. Another morning
location was of the water falls along the outflow of Bridal Veil Falls. We wanted to get the flowing water with out sunlight playing on the falls. Sunlight playing through the trees onto a falls is an exposure nightmare with the high contrast of bright sunlight, dark rocks, and trying to get the water to show the correct texture.

We took a break from 1200 to1400 after a late breakfast. I used the time to pick out some photos for yesterday's entry. My friend Lin, got in about 1300. Her Mom was doing very well yesterday afternoon so LIn decided to come up after all. We were off photographing by 1400.  She had gotten off from Falbrook about 0400 and the drive had gone smoothly. She did get caught in the
morning commute traffic in Bakersfield. She had a little time to organize her camera gear, and dress for the cool weather.

The afternoon was exploring some more photo spots, Actually Mark had them pretty well planned out, this being about his tenth trip to Yosemite leading trips. There was more walking on old compacted snow, but the photo ops were good. We took pictures of Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge, and then down in a meadow  east of Camp Curry. Then there was a third site to capture sunset
light on Half Dome with colors reflected in the Merced.

After sunset it was time to return to the Yosemite Lodge for dinner, Tonight we also pursued night sky photographhy for the second day, We went to Tunnel View, and then on a bit of a whim Yosemite Chapel . Tunnel View was a bit frustrating due to all of the planes flying over Canyon. The attempts at night photography at the chapel were thwarted many times by the cars driving by.  Still there was
some breaks in traffic both car and airplanes, that allowed for some fun.

Half Dome

Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge

Three Brothers & Reflection

Night Sky from Tunnel View

Orion over Yosemite Chapel

Starry Sky, Tunnel View

Bridal Veil Creek 1

Yosemite Chapel and Night Sky

Ice Formation

Bridal Veil Creek 2

Bridal Veil Creek 3

We called it a night about 2300 when we returned to the Lodge. I downloaded the day's images, took a shower and headed for bed. Lights went out at 0030!!

TO YOSEMITE - FEBRUARY 14

It has been a long day and this is going to be a very short entry.

Last night I drove to Fallbrook to spend the night with Lin before heading out this morning. Lin had to cancel due to her Mom taking a fall yesterday afternoon and getting quite "beat up" as a result. They had appointments with their chiropractor who did miracles in getting things realigned. Lin held out hope this morning that she might be able to join us in a day or two. Well, she will be joining us tomorrow!!

It was an eight and a half hour drive to the park, with a brief stop in Fresno to pick up one of the photographers, John, and have a short lunch before heading for Yosemite via State Rte 41 through Oakhurst and Wawona. At Fish Camp we picked up the fourth photographer, Keith who was waiting for us at Tenaya Lodge.

Once into the Park we headed for Bridal Veil Falls to get a spray rainbow in the late afternoon. We were very successful, and spent a good hour photographing the phenomenon. Then we back tracked to Tunnel View for sunset. As there were no clouds in the sky, it was not spectacular, but we had a  good time anyway. After checking in, getting our rooms and a quick dinner we were off for night sky photography. It was really fun, and I hope I got some good pictures. What I see on the LCD screen looks promising. We got the Milky Way and Orion over Bridal Veil Falls and the granite spires around it. Then we took an Easterly view and I have the Big Dipper over El Capitan. There were issues with planes and car traffic in the Valley but there should be something to show for the effort.

I would share pictures but it is already 1130 p.m. and I am not downloading pictures tonight. We are off to do sunrise light at 0645, so it is time to shower, and be off to bed. We should have some down time tomorrow mid-day, so I will try to get a couple of pictures ready for you then.

Thank you following my travels.

Raven Maven

Bridal Veil Falls w. Spray Bow

Tunnel View w. setting sunlight

Bridal Veil Falls, Milky Way, and Orion

Valley View with Big Dipper and more