Photo Tips USA – Yosemite NP – Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Valley – Motifs along Southside Drive

The parking lot below Bridalveil Fall View is located directly on Rt-41 (driving direction Wawona) and just behind its intersection with Southside Drive. Nearly 200 m (656 ft) high, Bridalveil Fall is rightly named, as the wind often blows it back and forth in front of the rock face like a long white gown train. In contrast to other waterfalls in the park, its large catchment area gives it the power to remain active throughout the summer, at least in a reduced form. However, it is most active between late March and June. A short hike (10 min) leads from the parking lot to a viewpoint at the base of the falls. However, with the amount of water in spring, photographs from there are almost impossible. Even from the parking lot, you want to capture sections of the waterfall that are nestled between the towering pines. In the morning, you can watch how the higher rising sun makes the waterfall glow from behind at its apex. To do this, set up on the western edge of the parking lot with your telephoto lens (at least 200 mm). After 17:00, rainbows often appear in the spray as it travels up the water column with the sinking sun, and just before the sun disappears to the west, it once again makes the entire rock face to the right and left of the cascade glow with golden light. If you follow the footpath past Bridalveil Fall View, you’ll get close to Bridalveil Creek and have the opportunity, for example, to step down from the bridge to capture the water flowing over the smoothly polished stones with creative long exposures. In the morning, single rays of light fall through the dense oak forest and illuminate the small cascades. In the afternoon, the lighting is sparser but more balanced. A little further on, you can capture the waterfall through the less dense tree canopy.

El Capitan is 989 m (3,245 ft) high. It’s the largest massive granite dome in the world.

The Cathedral Beach Picnic Area is located on Southside Drive, 2.7 km (1.7 mi) past its intersection with Rt-41. If the gate is closed, you can park on the road and walk down to the long beach on the Merced River. Right from there, you can put El Capitan, brilliantly lit in the early morning, in one of the most beautiful wide-angle compositions with the river in the foreground. The great reflection of the rock face in the water is really worth getting up early for! Follow the Merced River west a bit, and you can capture it as it flows straight toward the monolith on its way to its prominent Devil’s Elbow bend. On this stretch, you’ll also be in a good position to photograph Cathedral Rocks behind you to the southwest. The tall trees dominating the lower part of the image here become a black silhouette when purposefully underexposed. Continuing east from the picnic area, upstream, the Three Brothers, which are dramatically sidelit in the morning, come into focus in the viewfinder.

Continue 3 km (1.9 mi) toward Yosemite Village to reach a large turnout on the right side of Southside Drive (5,8 km / 3.6 mi past the intersection with Rt-41). From the road, you can already see the tables and benches of the picnic area, as well as the narrow bridge over the Merced River. Because of its construction, it is rightly called the Swinging Bridge. The river and the cottonwood trees on its banks align exquisitely with the Upper Yosemite Fall at this point. Unfortunately, the sun doesn’t reach the waterfall until late morning, well into June. A polarizing filter is the right tool in this situation to take some of the harshness out of the light and to soften the overly strong reflections a bit.

With its smooth northwest flank, the 2695 m (8,841 ft) Half Dome is the recognized symbol of Yosemite National Park, and Sentinel Bridge is a very good vantage point from which to photograph it. 7,4 km (4.4 mi) east of the intersection with Rt-41, it connects Southside Drive with Yosemite Village. From its eastern side, you have probably the best view of the dominating Half Dome and its perfect summer, fall, and winter reflection in the Merced River. The morning creates a backlit scene here. Only the illumination from the west in the early afternoon allows a balanced picture of the prominent rock face with the river and the firs in the foreground. You definitely have to be here 45 min before sunset to capture the worth-seeing play of colors of the sinking sun on the vertical rock face. To bridge the wide range of contrast between the illuminated clifftop and the foreground, which is already in shadow, and thus give the Merced River a touch of detail, a three-stop graduated gray filter is indispensable at this time. It’s just as important to secure a good spot in the middle of the bridge early on, because the more dramatic the sight becomes, the more people stop to watch.

Yosemite Valley – Motifs along Northside Drive

Cooks Meadow is located in the triangle of Northside Drive and Sentinel Bridge Drive, just south of Yosemite Village. Parking is available on both roads to access good shooting locations in the heart of the valley. The subjects include everything of distinction: Yosemite Falls (best on an early morning in spring), Half Dome, Cathedral Rocks, Glacier Point, and Sentinel Rock (all very good in the late afternoon). As befits a decent meadow, you’ll find flowers, trees, and small ponds to place in the foreground for active image composition.

In a landscape as extraordinary as this one, you also need to set high standards for a purpose-built structure such as a hotel. The Ahwahnee shows that both are compatible. Located at the end of a small road, the Ahwahnee stands slightly apart from Yosemite Village on its east side, seemingly disinterested in the mundane bustle of the village. Built back in 1927, largely of local stone and wood, it is one of the most beautiful hotels in the U.S. and, even if you don’t stay here, is worth at least a short visit. It has been on the National Historic Landmarks list since 1987. Of the rooms open to the public, the large lounge reflects well the understated luxury of the 123-room property. Enough light floods in through the floor-to-ceiling windows to get good shots without a flash. Ahwahnee is a word from the Miwok Indian language, meaning „lush meadow“. And that’s exactly what frames the asymmetrical Y-shaped structure on the south side against the backdrop of the mighty granite walls. – A better foreground could not be added to the shots, even after the fact!

With a height of 739 m (2,598 ft), Yosemite Falls is by far the longest cascade around Yosemite Valley, even the longest in North America. The plural is quite appropriate here, as Yosemite Creek plunges down into the valley in three stages. The 436-meter (1430-foot)-long Upper Falls form the first and most widely visible part. The Middle Cascade runs in a rock niche and is not visible from Cooks Meadow, for example. A hiking trail allows you to approach the remaining lower section of the Lower Falls, which receives direct sunlight only during midday hours. Because the Yosemite Creek watershed is mostly pure rock, the falls reach the impressive peak of their activity between March and May. The rest of the year sees them as a wind-driven fine ribbon. In their entirety, you can take in Yosemite Falls from the footpath to the Ahwahnee Hotel, for example, or from the Sentinel Bridge across Cooks Meadow. Since they face east, the morning light sets them off well. Direct access to the Lower Fall is from the Yosemite Falls Viewpoint on Northside Drive, 1/3 mile past Cooks Meadow. From the parking lot, the trail leads directly toward the full length of the waterfall, visible from here. Tall fir trees frame the view to the left and right, and the point where the river cascades over the cliff edge is so far away that it actually looks like it’s rising directly from the sky. A 10 min walk brings you to the Yosemite Creek Bridge and a viewpoint at the base of the Lower Falls. But pack yourself and your gear well, because the waters produce enough spray in April and May to drench you on the bridge! To compensate, the sun is at just the right angle around 08:00 during these months to conjure rainbows at the base of the falls.

„The water seems to fall out of the very sky itself“
Joseph LeConte, Chief of US Geological Survey about Yosemite Falls

The Yosemite Falls Trail gives you an unusual perspective on the valley and the waterfall. It begins on the north side of Sunnyside Campground and leads in the first section to the Columbia Rock overlook (3,2 km / 2 mi round trip, 300 m / 980 ft elevation gain, 2.5 hrs). From there, you have a good view of Half Dome and the eastern part of the valley in the late afternoon, but it’s not worth the crawl. It’s much better to struggle up here in the morning and take in the Upper Falls‘ translucent fog cloud from an even higher position in the dramatic backlight. The sun is just right for this around 09:00 in April and around 10:00 in May. As a guide for metering this difficult situation, part of the granite wall already in the light does a good job. For all Iron Men and Women, it should be noted that the whole way to the top of Yosemite Falls measures 11,6 km (7.2 mi) there and back. – Planning for at least 7 hours is necessary due to the elevation gain of 810 m (2,657 ft).

Cathedral Rocks are among the most appreciative subjects in the park because of their unusual shapes, and along with Cathedral Beach, Cathedral Rocks Vista provides a vantage point for rewarding shots. Soft side lighting in the morning and late afternoon sets off the jagged formations most effectively and even adds some color to the otherwise forbidding gray granite. The best time of year, of course, is spring, which creates a small reflecting pond in the foreground with its excess water. You can find the viewpoint’s small parking area 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Yosemite Lodge on Northside Drive.

El Capitan Meadow is even a little closer to the mighty piece of granite whose name it bears than Cathedral Beach on Southside Drive. Accordingly, the perspective of looking up the rock face is steeper and more dramatic. However, early rising is the order of the day here as well as there, as the best light is until a maximum of 1 hour after sunrise. 4 km (2.5 mi) west of Yosemite Lodge, you first reach a small parking strip on the left, then a U-shaped parking area on the right. In between, the meadow stretches along the Merced River. There is only one vantage point where you can capture reflections of El Capitan in the river, but you also have the opportunity to include the Three Brothers to the east in your picture, as well as shooting locations with trees (as silhouettes!) and tall reed grass in the foreground. For a good selection of subjects, follow the marked trail through the middle of the meadow to the riverbank and along it back to the road. You can also capture Cathedral Rocks to the south, lit from the side by the fine morning light.

Sometimes it’s better to keep a little distance from things. Bridalveil Fall View on Southside Drive gets you close enough for detailed studies of the eponymous waterfall, whereas from Bridalveil View on Northside Drive you can put it in an overall context with the rocky landscape surrounding it. – Decide for yourself which you like better! The viewpoint is located 5,6 km (3.5 mi) west of Yosemite Lodge or 1,6 km (1 mi) past El Capitan Meadow. The setting sun bathes the scene in an incredibly warm golden hue a good hour before it sets. This hue intensifies on the waterfall even at an exposure > 1/8 sec, so it really seems to be made of liquid color. Between March and June, the cascade is at its most active.

At the western end of Northside Drive, the valley holds a sort of summary of what we’ve seen so far with Valley View. This viewpoint, also called Gates of the Valley, is located 6,9 km (4.3 mi) west of Yosemite Lodge just before the turnoff to Rt-41 toward Wawona. From a ground-level perspective, one looks out at the impressive panorama of El Capitan to the north and Cathedral Rocks to the south, reflected in the Merced River in the foreground during the watery season. In early summer, wildflowers line the meadow on the opposite side of the river. This view is similar to Tunnel View, except that you are standing too low to see the crest of Half Dome. About 1 hour before sunset, you will experience the best light on the formations, which are only evenly lit around the solstice dates of 21 March and 21 September. However, only El Capitan receives the last light in winter and spring, while Cathedral Rocks receive illumination during summer. Since the Merced River in the foreground is already in shadow at this time, a graduated gray filter helps to bridge the contrast difference and keep at least some details recognizable.

Next Yosemite NP – The eastern Valley

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