Sentinel Dome 360º from KiHo on Vimeo.
Sentinel Dome 360º May 11, 2009
Here is a picture taken in Yosemite Valley National Park last weekend. We happened to be walking on the southwest bank of the Merced River. The river was calm the surface was glassy smooth. I set up my tripod and snapped a few incredible images. Can you figure out if this picture is right side up or up side down? Hint look at the lighter spot in the upper middle left of the image.
Unfortunately the pictures we took didn’t turn out as expected. The water level in the lake was low and the surface was partially covered in ice. The best time to photograph half dome is when the lake is at its fullest, in late spring.
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The tour took about 2 hours. It is designed for all levels of photography. The guild showed us techniques of framing and depth of field etc… He also took the group to some of the places Ansel Adams took some of his famous pictures.
There were about twenty-five of us in the group, and the only person shooting on film was the guild. Some of his instruction was about film and darkroom processing. I noticed that 90% of the people on the tour had a strange blank look when he spoke about the use of film.
This is my take on film vs. digital photography:
Film – Film photographers are like snipers. One shot one kill. Film users require more technique and a higher level of skill to master. Since you have a limited amount of pictures per roll of film, you have to make sure your shot is almost perfect. Paying close attention to lighting, focus, exposure, framing, detail, depth of field, blah, blah, blah… You will never know what you really have until your film is processed, and in a roll of 36 Fuji Provia slide film, you might get one, one good kill. Film photography doesn’t make you lazy.
Digital – Digital photographers’ are like an infantry soldier. The grunt grabs his M16A4 riffle and sprays lead until he has to reload or gets tired. Just like the grunt a new digital photographer can shoot pictures until his digital media storage becomes full or he gets bored and or tired.
Even though most skilled photographers that switched to digital still use proper technique and discipline, for the most part we can get lazy. If we don’t like the picture the first time (delete) and shoot it until you get it right. We can shoot until the cows come home, and in a thousand images we will be happy if we get ten decent images.
As the sun sets and the light starts to fade I witnessed a migration of animals. This wasn’t any ordinary animal this was the stalking photographer.
My wife and I had just emerged from the trail on our way back from the base of Yosemite Falls. We decided to cross north side drive and head into the meadow (sentinel meadow). The meadow was covered with snow. In some places we sank up to our hips in snow. This would make for some great pictures in the fail afternoon light.
As I set up my camera on my tripod to take some pictures of Half Dome and the surrounding landscape, I witnessed a migration of photographers about 100 yards in front of my position. I would say there were about 30 or 40 photographers marching in a straight line into the middle of the meadow.
I thought this was a peculiar image so I captured the moment, of photographers lined up to take pictures of half dome. Once I got the shot I was looking for, I grabbed my gear and took my place in formation along the line.
Once I got set up I asked Kevin, a photographer from Fresno what was going on. He explained that during certain times of the year, as the sun sets, the last rays of light hit the upper part of the Yosemite Valley and turns Half Dome a reddish orange color. He continued to explain that capturing the image is a rare event due to the time of year (February) and weather related issues. Fortunately we were in the right place at the right time and it was going to be a good day to get a good photograph. The weather had cooperated all day and the sky was clear, almost too clear.
As time moved on and the valley darkened, we waited patiently in the cold. Did I mention that we are at 4000 feet elevation and in the middle of winter? Yes, it was cold and as soon as the sunlight disappeared in the valley floor the temperature dropped fast.
Finally, as we watched the shadow creep up the face, and you think that the magic light or as they put it the “color” wasn’t going to happen. Poof it happens. You see the color change on the face of Half Dome from the granite gray to a light pinkish orange. The color continues to deepen to a reddish orange. The “color” only lasts for a few minutes, and then it’s gone.
Once the last of the magic color had gone, the herd of photographers packed up the 200+ thousands worth of photo gear, and retreated to the warmth of their cars. Since my arse was already frozen to point of no feeling, I decided to wait out the light and try to capture Half Dome in the very last light of the day.
I forgot about the feet. I couldn’t do it. I had to leave before I wanted to. My feet lost feeling, and I knew when that happened I was toast. I had to abandon my post and retreat to the warmth of the Element, and change my wet socks. At that point I was done.