After the borrowed filter incident on the bridge I bought a set of graduated neutral density filters at the Ansel Adams Gallery the next day in Yosemite Village. I got a chance to try them out after we got back from Glacier Point that day in the valley North of the bridge in the meadow area near Yosemite Fall.
As you can see the contrast between the shadowed foreground and the brightly lit face of Half Dome was pretty severe. This was one of the best balanced images I got during that sunset.
I was switching between the digital and the film cameras - literally switching as I was using the same tripod. It was quite the fire drill, but I was glad to get the practice and some hands-on experience with the holder and new filters. All in all, I was quite satisfied with the end results.
One of the more iconic images of Yosemite is Half Dome, and one of the most popular spots to photograph Half Dome is Sentinel Bridge. Like Tunnel View (Inspiration Point) and Glacier Point, this becomes a camera magnet, especially at sunset.
This was a bit of a challenge. I realized I needed a graduated neutral density filter to bring out the details of the trees in the mid-ground as the sun had set on them but was very intense on the face of Half Dome. Unfortunately, the holder that I had that fit the lens was too big for the filters. I tried hand-holding the filters in front of the camera with pretty poor results. Fortunately a fellow photographer next to me - who coincidentally was holding a small seminar for some folks - let me borrow his filter that fit my holder. That worked much better as the above photo shows. I purchased a new set of larger filters in a range of densities at the Ansel Adams Gallery the next day.
I'll show you the results of those filters another day.
Yosemite was phenomenal the four days we were there. We missed the cold snap and snow by a couple of days and the week after we left saw a heat wave. The Merced River was near flood stage even so as the huge snowfall this past year created a lot of spring run-off. The falls were as full as I've ever seen them.
Glacier Point, while a bit of a drive to get there, is always amazing. The overview of the valley below affords some stunning views. This is one of them, a quarter-front shot of Half Dome that is almost level with its crown. The extra-dark staining on the face of the rock is the result of it being continually wet with the running snow melt.
The weather was cooperative that day with some clouds to bring interest to the sky. The view further to the right (South) was even more amazing with a spring storm brewing over the Sierra Nevada range. We'll see that another day.
There is this idea that you have to "suffer" for your art. I once had a girl friend who adamantly believed in that philosophy. As a result she left home as soon as she was 18, rented a room in somebody's finished garage and proceeded to do some really reckless things that could have lead to bad things happening to her. All this in pursuit of "life" and life's experiences.
The whole exercise was kind of lost on me. while I do appreciate the value of experiences, I think imagination and the ability to place yourself in the shoes of others is equally valuable.
Yet, there are indeed times when one must suffer for ones art. The above photo was taken knee-deep in the Merced River several years ago. While it was technically summer, the water was snowmelt, so cold was an understatement. Much like the Tioga Pass photo, I spent nearly an hour in that frigid river shooting Half Dome photos into the twilight.
Bad weather can also make for some very atmospheric landscapes. This shot was taken last February from Yosemite Valley looking towards Half Dome at about 1:00 PM. The sun was struggling to break through the low clouds and mist. Fog was heavy on the valley floor for most of the day. Color images were almost black and white in many of my morning and day-before shots, but color began to seep back into view as the fog lessened. It was cold standing there for two hours, but I got several promising images on both the digital and medium format cameras. All in all, it was a very good day.
After the borrowed filter incident on the bridge I bought a set of graduated neutral density filters at the Ansel Adams Gallery the next day in Yosemite Village. I got a chance to try them out after we got back from Glacier Point that day in the valley North of the bridge in the meadow area near Yosemite Fall.
