Yosemite!

Hi everyone,
As most of you know, I went on a mini vacation this last weekend to Yosemite. It was my first time in Yosemite and as expected its beauty was breathtaking. Not only was it my first time in Yosemite it was also my first run with my NEW camera. I recently purchased the Canon 5d Mark II. There were 11 Chico photographers on this trip, and let me say each and every one of us brings something to the experience.

The trip down was, oh so exciting, once we finally made it. We got stuck in the snow and had to us two sets of chains! LOL. Something this Truckee girl is not used to. Once we finally made it into the park our first stop was at tunnel view.
Here is a picture of the outside of the tunnel looking in



And if you turn away from the tunnel you get the view that is most commonly seen in Yosemite photographs. El Capitan and Half dome. Here are some pictures of this view. Since this is a prime photographic location it was up to us as photographers to attempt to make the photo something not everyone has seen. So what most of us did was take HDR images. HDR is a set of 3-9 photos taken at different exposures to expose for all the highlights and all the shadows. Then the images are later merged together in an HDR program, such as Photoshop or Photomatix. Here are some of these images.









Along the road we found some nice icicles. I turned these into spiffy spicified icicles in photoshop. I really like the results.



The next day we spent most of our time down in the Valley. Here is a picture from the "singing" bridge (actually its called swinging, but by the end of the trip it was called sining). The waterfall in the distance is the upper Yosemite falls. This image was taken with a neutral density filter and is a raw image.



These two waterfalls were a lot of fun to take pictures of. 3 of us trekked through the snow and around a log to get a closer view of them.



I think this picture or ElCapitan was taken at Mirror Pond, but since this was my first time there I am not totally sure.



On the day before it was time to leave some of us got up really early in hopes to catch a sunrise, with no luck. It was very gray out all day. So it was up to us as photographers to explore the valley and get creative with our images. I really like how this one turned out with the tree in the foreground and the falls in the background. It is a little busy but I think it set a mood for the particular season we were in. The barren tree and the cold waterfall together say winter, as well as this lonesome path. At 7:00am in the morning no one else was out to take pictures but us.





Here is a group of us the same day with our lovely snowman. I was designated to set the 15 second timer on 3 cameras, then run and dive into position for the cameras. Took 3 tries to get it right.



I took this image the same day as the last images. My tripod was literally in the water and I was on the edge of the cove reaching for my cable release. All so the waterfall could peek through the trees. Its faint, but if you look closely, it is there. luckily the water wasn't gushing otherwise I would've had a harder time getting this shot.



This image is probably my favorite. All of us went to the Ansel Adams Gallery and were inspired afterward to take this photo. This is a timed exposure at around 4 minutes. I love the fog, the water, the hills. Its is a very peaceful image to me and I am very happy with the results.



Now for the last day. Our goal to leave the Valley at 11, failed miserably. For some reason we always get into what we call "gorilla" photography mode. taking as many of those last minute photos as possible. It was snowing like crazy but it was so much fun. For those of you that know Don, thats him in his shorts, yes shorts, and boots. We walked into the middle of a meadow just to take a picture of this tree.





Well, All and All it was an amazing wonderful trip and I can't wait to go there again. The beauty is breathtaking. I hope you all enjoy these images and they bring joy to your heart as they have to mine.