Posts Tagged Yosemite Falls
What a difference a month (and some snow) makes
Posted by Doug Otto in Photography on May 3, 2010
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People often ask me what is the best time of year to visit Yosemite. While winter is probably my personal favorite, there is no best time. The park is beautiful year round and unless you see it in several different seasons you’re doing yourself a disservice.
The park’s transformations are the most dramatic during the changing of seasons. Nothing highlights those transformations like this image. I shot basically this same scene last month with a completely different result. Higher spring water levels and the gift of a blanket of fresh snow made for a completely different feel.
Photographically, this is a challenging scene. Taken from full shade, the dynamic range in this frame is well above what the camera is capable of recording. One technique would have been to capture several frames, at various exposures, and combine them via software. Rather rely on the computer, I used a Singh-Ray 3 stop hard edged split neutral density filter. The level horizon allowed me to place the filter transition directly down the middle of the frame.
With the filter balancing the exposure there was another problem that I needed to address. Reflections are always darker, generally by about 1 stop, than the subject being reflected. If I didn’t point it out you may not notice but something might not seem “just right.” With the filter on the top half of the frame, I needed to darken the reflection to keep it natural looking. Since I always use a polarizer during the day, it was a simple fix. I simply rotated the polarizer to produce the maximum reflection and then backed it off to darken it slightly.
Even though I teach digital image processing, my preference is always to get the picture as close as possible in the camera rather than resort to processing tricks. It’s much more satisfying, to me, to do it that way.
Cheers
Flooded Meadow, Yosemite Falls
Posted by Doug Otto in Photography on April 24, 2010
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A few months ago I finished reading Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing. While I have no intention of converting to Taoism it was a good read. An engineer by vocation and photographer by avocation, I sometimes struggle with my analytical mind. While creativity truly comes from within it’s interesting to see other approaches of connecting to that inner self. Often, a mix of the analytic and creative is required to make thoughtful images.
I made this image on the last workshop trip in Yosemite. While the group all marched out to Swinging Bridge, where they could should in relative comfort, I trudged out into the flooded meadow. (Budding nature photographers take note: waterproof boots are your friends.) Before I was close enough to compose a shot I knew that would be reflection opportunities. Once I got there it was just a matter of letting my creativity turn it into an image.
After working this scene for a bit, I tipped off a few folks in the group and let them have a crack at the spot. In retrospect, I wish that I’d tried a few more compositions before tipping my hand and losing my location. There’s always next trip.
Cheers
Sometimes you just can’t help yourself
Posted by backup in Photography on March 9, 2010
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Last week I talked about trying to find fresh images in a very heavily photographed National Park. Today’s image is the result of succumbing to the urge to “shoot the icon.” While I normally go out of my way to avoid this type of shot, sometimes you just can’t help yourself.
This is another image from last month’s workshop. We woke to a clearing storm and fresh snow in Yosemite valley. Knowing that the morning sun would quickly erase the night’s work, we rushed our group to as many icons as we could before the light got too harsh. One of those iconic shots was the Elm tree in Cook’s Meadow. A number of photographers, Ansel Adams included, have some pretty well known images of that scene.
After giving the group far too little time, to do the scene justice, we called for them to return to the cars to head to the next spot. The sound of snowing already dropping from the trees added to the sense of urgency. While folks packed up their gear I stood, next to the car, looking up at the falls. The frosty granite, the snow in the trees and the tremendous depth of the scene was just too much to resist. I grabbed my camera and fired off a couple of shots. Sometimes you just have to give in.
Cheers
A contrast of motion
Posted by Doug Otto in Photography on June 9, 2009
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I stumbled upon this scene last month. I had just watched a very bland sunset from Cook’s Meadow and made my way to the other side of the meadow. I was in Yosemite primarily to shoot the lunar rainbow over Yosemite falls but I had a couple of hours to wait for the conditions to be right.
For much of the year, this meadow is ugly and brown but in the spring time it bursts to life wearing a lush green can only be experienced; not described. While the rivers and falls are raging, the water in the meadows remains quiet. What struck me about this scene was it’s ability to tell both stories. The absolute calm of the water in the meadow with the reflection of the raging waterfall in the distance. The meadow grasses springing to life helped to anchor and orient the scene.
Making the image was fairly straight forward. The exposure was 30.0 sec at f / 5.6 and ISO 100. I was using my Canon 24-70 f/2.8L zoomed to 57mm. I used a polarizer to bring out the reflection and the color in the grass.
Cheers
Starry Night
Posted by Doug Otto in Photography on May 26, 2009
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As I mentioned in my previous article, I spent last Thursday night and Friday morning tagging along with a private group that Gary Hart was leading. All in all there was 8 of us perched up on Sentinel Dome watching the sun go down and waiting for darkness. We were all there for the same shot; star trails over the valley.
While all that it takes shoot star trails is a dark night and a long exposure, the Devil is in the details. Focusing and composing in the dark can be a bit challenging and often the final composition ends up being a bit of a guess. Battery life and just simple time constraints are also issues. In camera noise reduction takes as long as the original exposure. In the case of this image, the exposure was 25 minutes so after noise reduction I was able to take 1 shot every 50 minutes or so. I ended up only getting two chances.
On the first try I ended up setting the wrong aperture so the result was a very dark image; too dark to salvage. After discovering my error I corrected the setting and moved to this composition. After 25 minutes of laughing and joking we all packed up and headed back down the hill; cameras still busy processing images. I didn’t get a chance to look at my image until Friday evening back in my home and was pleasantly surprised. I actually had to darken the image slightly. I was also amazed and the brightness and quality of light coming up from the valley. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening with a fun bunch of people. The only pain came when the alarm went off at 4AM the following morning. As my grandfather used to say: “You can rest when you’re dead!”
The details. As I mentioned, the exposure was 25 minutes. I was using my Canon 17-40 f/4L, at f/4, on my 5D at ISO 400. I did have to apply a standard helping of Noiseware and painstakingly removed a jet trail across the top 3rd of the image. After processing I made a quick print which is now hanging in my office.
Cheers
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