Photographic meanderings

All too often I see people packing it in far too early around here; Tonight was a prime example. This sequence (straight from the camera, no post processing) shows the light fading and then returning.

Half Dome at Dusk from Glacier Point Road.

Mono Lake Tufa, sunset. It just doesn’t look real, does it? 8×12 print, $20. Only 3 available. As always, that includes shipping.

Mountain Pride, or Penstimon, in sunset light on Sentinel Dome.

Be sure to click through to see the larger size of this. Shot from just below Sentinel Dome on June 4th, 2009. I stitched this image from two shots.

It was *cold* at Tunnel View tonight. Next time I’m taking a few blankets and some hot tea with me. I’m glad I stayed, though, because I was rewarded with this lovely view of alpen glow on El Capitan, the first time I’d ever seen it. Dave, you should have stayed, pal. Print available here.

Sand tufa on the Mono Lake margin.  These structures mark where freshwater springs bubbled up through the sandy bottom of the salt/alkaline waters in Mono Lake.  Once the lake level lowered, and the sand blew away, the tufa were revealed.  Calcium in the freshwater bonded with the alkaline  to create these otherworldly, delicate flutes.  See more here.

 

 

PB239724, originally uploaded by Ambitious Wench.

Another Black Friday image. This was shot from Glacier Point at sunset as the moon was rising. I love the way shadows creep across the face of Half Dome as the sun falls at the end of the day.

Today was rather smokey here in Yosemite Valley. I could smell, and can still smell, woodsmoke. I pity asthmatics on days like this. I’m not too sure where the smoke was coming from. I assume it was a controlled burn. It made for an interesting sunset up at Glacier Point. While I was there, I met three workers from San Diego; They were modifying the Taft Point/Sentinel Dome parking area for ADA compliance. To Steve and his crew, thank you. My mother lost her right leg to artery disease, and was confined to a wheel chair in the last years of her life. It’s good to know NPS is trying to make more of the park accessible to folks in wheelchairs. Two of his crew had never been to Yosemite before, and so this was a treat for them. They graciously allowed me to snap a picture of them. Best of luck to you, guys, and be safe!

No hostile crowds of determined shoppers, no angst over not having money to spend, no fistfights in the parking lot over a contested parking spot. No canned music, no screaming kids on Santa’s lap, no elves with attitudes, no tacky Christmas decorations. No strings of lights drooping, no eco-friendly LEDs, no shards of shattered glass balls. Just the lovely sky, patient Half Dome, and the eternal, timeless beauty of Yosemite. It was the perfect kick-off to my holiday season.