Yosemite Falls Creek Bridge

Using any excuse to just get out and start photographing, Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 17, 2011) was no exception. It had been well over a week since the last good snow hit the Central Sierra Mountain range. The sky was clear in Yosemite, the sun was warm, and for the third week in a row, the Central Valley was fogged in. That was more than enough to get me packing.
My wife and I spent the day going from one spot in Yosemite to another. This is one location I never tire of. With every curve in the road or twist in a trail there is another breath-taking view. This first photo is of a stone bridge that crosses over Yosemite Falls Creek (just down stream from Lower Yosemite Falls). It's not one of the Valley's more famous bridges (that's probably why no one was taking photos of it); however when the sunlight pokes its way through the trees and reflects off the creek creating a golden glow on the under curves of the bridge, you just have to stop and spend a few minutes watching the reflection ripple upward.



Another location in Yosemite Valley that is missed by many is Fern Falls. Unless you know what you are looking for or where this very small falls is located, it is easy to overlook. Even in the summer most Yosemite trekkers overlook this spot. Winter shooting (even if the sun is shining) is difficult because of the deep shadows and flashes of bright lighting that fall on the snow. This photo was taken in a very shadowed light. Even with fill flash it was almost too dark to capture. ISO was bumped up as were the exposure and sensitivity settings.

White snow against dark green moss, granite rock, and dirt... I was happy to even be able to capture what I did...

Going to the north side of the Valley from the south side created a totally different view and lighting. Here in the meadow in front of Yosemite Falls is a view of the snow, the tree line, and the falls. The skies were clear and deep blue. At the bottom of the falls was formed an ice dome (about thirty to thirty-five feet high and about forty feet across.

Here is a close up of the ice dome from just under the Lower Falls. The spray off the rock where the Falls reaches bottom is what causes the freezing water to form a egg shaped dome of ice.

I'll be posting more Yosemite photographs soon... check back for a view of a panorama I took from the Merced River looking back toward the east end of the Valley. Sunset, full moon rising, and a low misty fog hovering over a meadow.