The Yosemite Valley had a beautiful light dusting of snow over Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving night, long after sunset, an alpenglow on El Cap was still barely visible. This is a long exposure at 30 seconds to pick up the colors on the granite and in the sky after dark. I thought the car trails along the loop road opposite the Merced added a festive touch to a wintry scene. www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Tags: California Gates of the Valley Landscape Long Exposure Merced River National Park Nature Northern California Reflection Reflections Sierra Nevada Sunset Trees USA Yosemite Yosemite NP Yosemite National Park autumn fall snow
© All Rights Reserved
Mount Lassen, the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range, located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, rises 2,000 ft above Manzanita Lake, and is one of the largest lava domes on Earth. These are clearing storm clouds on a late spring evening.
Tags: California Landscape Lassen Peak Lassen Volcanic National Park Manzanita Lake Mount Lassen National Park Nature Northern California Reflection Reflections USA spring
© All Rights Reserved
I have never in my life camped on a busy holiday weekend with no camping reservations, but this year is not a typical year! Desperate to reconnect with nature in a secluded location, my husband and I hooked up the camp trailer with no plans and no agenda, and wound up in the remote hills above Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra. Although the trip wasn’t focused on photography, we still managed to get out with our camera gear to visit a few of our favorite spots. Even with sub-freezing temperatures, it was invigorating to watch the sunrise over Hot Creek, a nice visit with an old friend.
www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Tags: California spring Landscape Eastern Sierra Water Mono County Nature Sky USA Sierra Nevada Mountain
© All Rights Reserved
Getting older means an increasing frequency of insomnia, and this morning, wide awake at 3am, I found myself looking through the Ansel Adams Gallery website on my phone admiring the drama and grandeur he conveyed in his images with atmospheric conditions and nearly black skies. I processed this one later the same day after work, completely forgetting my earlier maniacal insomnia episode, but I must’ve been subliminally inspired as I rarely ever process images in monochrome. I may keep working this one but I quite like it, especially as it’s a fond memory of the one wintery day I experienced in Yosemite Valley this year.
www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Tags: #ThroughHerLens USA Landscape Winter Yosemite National Park National Park Yosemite NP Clouds Northern California California Trees Yosemite Fog Sierra Nevada mist Black and White Sky Cathedral Rocks Monochrome Telephoto Nature snow WPDNature ybsnature21
© All Rights Reserved
I didn’t have any intentions of photographing Yosemite’s famed firefall phenomenon again this year; atmospheric river events in December blissfully dumped snow on the Sierra in December, but weather was completely bone dry in January and February, and one of the key ingredients of a good firefall is ample water flow. But when we got the opportunity to witness Yosemite Valley from the air aboard a tiny Cessna 206 with the doors off, it was too good to pass up, even if it wasn’t an epic firefall year! Shooting handheld from a vibrating plane as the light was waning most certainly necessitated a fast shutter speed and high ISO, but the R5 did pretty well needing only slight tweaks in Topaz DeNoise. Dense haze in the Valley from prescribed Forest Service burns lent an unexpected soft diffuseness over the landscape, but witnessing Yosemite’s familiar granite icons from a whole new perspective was an experience not soon forgotten!!
www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Tags: #ThroughHerLens God Rays USA Landscape Winter Yosemite National Park National Park El Capitan Yosemite NP Aerial snow California Yosemite Sunset Sky Firefall Horsetail Falls Sierra Nevada Nature Mountain #YBSThroughHerLens21
© All Rights Reserved