|
View From Glacier Point Sometimes it all works out.I’m one of the lucky ones; I live within a couple of hours drive from two of the most beautiful places in the world, Yosemite National Park and the Big Sur Coast. With this good fortune comes an opportunity to visit them often during the year and I take advantage of it. I make it a point to visit Yosemite many times during the year and I always visit at least once each May to bask in the wonder of dogwood blooms and waterfalls. While these trips are usually taken either by myself alone or with my brother-in-law John, this year I made the trip with a group of photographers. The trip had been planned for months to coincide with the peak season for dogwood blooms in the valley, early May. Unfortunately however, the dogwoods were rather late this year and instead of being greeted by tunnels of white dogwoods enveloping you as trees from both sides of the road stretch over your head to meet one another, we found only small bits of color here and there, we were early. It didn’t take long for me to decide I’d be coming back to the park in a couple of weeks and started to make a weekly call to the Ranger station to check on the dogwood conditions. Each phone call was greeted by the same response, “They aren’t really blooming yet, pretty soon thought”. Finally, early this week my weekly inquire was answered with a much more exciting statement, “Yeah, they’re really popping, it’s like snow everywhere.” Woo-whoa! That was all I needed to hear, Yosemite here I come. I’ve been fortunate enough to see some pretty wonderful dogwood displays in the past and it was all I could think about as I got nearer and nearer to the park. I entered Yosemite and smelled the clean cool air, the Merced River guiding me along the roadway to the granite lined valley that is Yosemite Valley where the famous peaks Half Dome and El Capitan live, where majestic waterfalls plunge from hanging valleys and where the spring dogwoods would be white as green Jello. What? Umm, what’s going on? Where’s the dogwood blooms, everything has already leafed out. What the heck! After a few minutes of disbelief I wondered out loud, “How could they be so wrong? Why would they tell me everything was white as snow when there isn’t a white bloom anywhere? Why lie to me?” After huffing and puffing for a few minutes I came to accept the fact that dogwoods weren’t going to be in my plans today. As photographer’s often do when greeted with ever changing conditions, I was forced to adapt and try something new. On this day my something new was taking a trip to Glacier Point for the sunset, if you’re not familiar with Glacier Point, it’s a sight to behold, you’re high above the Valley, looking straight across at Half Dome as the Valley, its waterfalls and meadows open in front of you. For any first timers it’s definitely a “WOW” moment. I arrived at Glacier Point hours before sunset and had time to slow down and pick my compositition carefully. I also had the time to sit, on a large granite rock, and watch my subject as it changed, as clouds came and went, as the sun and shadows moved across it, it was wonderful! I also had the opportunity to meet another photographer, not uncommon when you're in the field, Claude. He's from Hawaii and drove tanks as a member of the Artillery earlier in his life. As the final rays of light came and went across the face of Half Dome and the color faded in the clouds, I loaded my camera gear back into my pack and headed back to the car. I wasn't sure if I'd taken a great image or not but I was happy and content none-the-less. I hadn't gone to Yosemire with Glacier Point in mind; I hadn't gone to Yosemite with the thought of watching nature and God do their work and I hadn't gone to Yosemite with the intent of meeting another wonderful character that have freckled my photographic journey thoughout my life. But it's what ended up happening, very different from what I originally set out for but equally as satisfying and perhaps what I needed more. The above image is from Glacier Point during my trip to Yosemite, I still shot film for my landscape work so this is a digital "proof" that I take before exposing the film. |
Learn 
