I recently returned home from spending a week in Yosemite National Park. This was my first time to the valley floor in approximately 15 years and it was great to be reacquainted with this beautiful location. Myself and a local photographer friend Matthew Newman shared the expenses of the trip and headed to Yosemite together. Matt had made tent-cabin reservations sometime prior (reservations are required to enter the park this time of year) to correspond with an annual phenomenon that only occurs two weeks of the year in February when conditions are right. It's called "Firefall." What happens is the setting sun perfectly aligns with Horsetail Falls on the eastern edge of El Capitan and casts a narrow sliver of light through the delicate falls causing it to illuminate in vivid color for just a few minutes before the sun drops below the horizon. Finding an optimal viewpoint to capture this event can be tricky as some elevation gain is ideal compared to being on the valley floor and having as much of a side view as possible helps amplify the perceived glow through the falls. Arriving in the park around noon we had plenty of time to study Google Earth, trail maps, and make a plan before sunset.

While making lunch near the car I made my first image of the trip. A 600mm black and white telephoto shot of Upper Yosemite Falls:

Upper Yosemite Falls B&W Telephoto - February 2023

I love the almost abstract look of this scene and the contrasting textures between the falling water and the granite stone. Black and white just felt right for this image. Later I would find out we arrived on Ansel Adams 121st birthday by sheer coincidence.

After lunch we prepped our equipment and began hiking west towards the trailhead. Most of the valley, especially on the south side where we were is in shadow this time of year. Fresh snow hadn't yet fallen on this trip and the snow that was on the trail had been packed down, thawed, and refrozen into slick ice. Each of our camera packs loaded with equipment, water, and a few snacks weighed in at nearly 40 pounds. Matt even had 3 tripods along for this trek. With the use of ice crampons on our boots we were able to begin our upward ascent. After hiking uphill for about a mile we broke away from the trail and began sidehilling westward through the forest over snow and rock on a steep slope trying to reach a large boulder wash we had found using Google Earth. This would give us the best chance for a view as everywhere else was blocked by trees. After about 30 minutes of navigating the steep rocky snow covered terrain we reached the wash and climbed up on some rocks where we got our first view of Horsetail Falls. This spot would work.

Cellphone picture of our shooting location in the boulder wash as we waited and hoped for the Firefall. To the right of Matt's tripods is a vertical drop of about 30 feet. In the distance you can see El Capitan and Horsetail Falls beginning to catch light.

Now it was just a waiting game and high hopes that the right conditions would fall into place and produce the Firefall. After about another hour and a couple hand warmers later that narrow sliver of light we had hoped for began to shine on the falls and intensify in color. The conditions were perfect and this image was made in the last 60 seconds of sunlight as it skimmed across and through the falls:

The tighter framing on this shot was something I had envisioned prior to leaving on the trip. Although the wider scene was certainly beautiful as well I chose to make the image more about the Firefall and the contrast between the warm sunlight in the water and the cooler tones of the cliff in shadow. Again, an almost abstract like quality. For a sense of scale, the falls is 8,000ft (1.52 miles) away from our shooting location.

A significant snowstorm was expected to arrive mid morning the following day but studying the forecast there was a chance for clear skies to our east just prior to sunrise before clouds were expected to roll in. This time of year the Galactic Center of the Milky Way is just beginning to make its appearance in the night sky for the season. The way Yosemite Valley is oriented you aren't able to see the main core of the Milky Way from the valley floor as it is just out view to the south blocked by the high cliffs, however a good portion of the Galactic Center region is still visible. With the chance of an astrophotography opportunity we decided to set an alarm for 4:00AM and peak out of the canvas cabin we were staying in. If we saw stars, we would go. If not, we'd sleep for another couple hours waking for sunrise instead. The alarm went off, I stuck my head outside and looked upward to a dark sky full of stars. With that we turned on our headlamps and began suiting up for the 19 degree morning.

We arrived at the Yosemite Valley View viewpoint along the Merced River around 4:40AM and quickly began setting up our compositions as the window of time to capture the Milky Way before the light of dawn fades the stars and night sky to blue is very short in February. I use several special techniques to capture as much available light and image quality as possible in the darkness. Each technique requires more time than a simple single exposure. Thankfully I was able to capture my sky images in complete darkness but as I began my nearly 6 minute long single exposure for shadow detail a car drove by on Southside Drive effectively ruining that exposure. I started a second exposure and about halfway through another car pulled up and parked a short distance from us leaving their headlights on. Again, another wrecked imaged. Once they turned off their lights I started a third long exposure. This time the person who parked the car nearby came walking right up to us with a bright headlamp. Despite us asking him to turn off his light he didn't until Matt had a brief conversation with him. Maybe he had assumed we were just setting up for sunrise and he was completely ignorant to the concept of night photography. We will never know. At this point we were rapidly running out of night but with our new friend now enlightened to our need for darkness I was able to squeeze in one last and successful long exposure necessary for the shadow detail and this image is the final result:

Yosemite Valley Milky Way - February 2023

With a successful night shoot in the bag we headed towards Tunnel View. Once there we put on our crampons and began climbing the icy trail in twilight towards Artist Point. While hiking the trail we noticed clouds blowing in and obstructing the brighter planets, the only sources of light now left in the dawn sky. We couldn't believe our luck. We had just been shooting stars in a clear sky less than an hour earlier and now it looked like we might get a colorful sunrise too. We pressed on, hiking as quickly as possible trying to reach a vantage point clear of the trees. After about a mile of steep ascent loaded down with gear we finally reached a break in the trees in time for sunrise. I leveled my tripod and setup for a panorama. 10 minutes later this image was made:

Yosemite Valley Sunrise Panorama - February 2023

If you compare the rock features from this shot to the night sky image above you'll see this is looking the same direction. Taken just 90 minutes apart, I still can't believe the luck and difference in conditions.

After the sunrise shoot we headed back to our canvas tent/cabin at Curry Village for breakfast, showers, and a mid morning nap. Around 12pm we were awakened by park staff explaining that we were being evacuated from Curry Village immediately due to inbound heavy snow and high winds expected to arrive in the valley around 3pm. The tent campground had been evacuated as well. The concern was that the snow and winds could bring down trees and crush tent campers and folks in the canvas tent/cabins like us. After hauling our belongings back to the car we now had to find a place to stay outside of the park. Thankfully we found the Cedar Lodge in El Portal along Highway 140 just 30 minutes outside of the park. They offered us a discount due to the misfortune of being displaced from the park and the hotel room ended up being less expensive than the tent/cabin in Curry Village and a lot warmer I might add. Having electricity was also a nice treat for charging batteries, etc.

The next morning we arrived in the park after sunrise as we didn't expect any color due to the cloud cover. We were greeted with a fresh coat of snow and small breaks in the clouds allowing for dappled light to drift across the cliffs. Yosemite Valley View was one of the closest viewpoints so naturally we went there first. Standing on a snow covered log to gain a little elevation and carefully balancing my tripod I was able to capture this panorama:

Yosemite Valley View Winter Morning Panorama - February 2023

Shooting on an already high megapixel camera when these panorama images are stitched together the resolution and image quality is stunning. This particular panorama ended up being a 62X31 inch file at full 300PPI resolution. That's essentially the base file or starting point. In terms of print enlargements my general rule is that you can easily double and often times triple your base file size while still maintaining impeccable details and quality. Under those parameters an image like the one above has the potential to print up to 186 inches wide (or 15.5 feet) while still maintaining fine art quality resolution even when viewed up close. Making the highest quality most lifelike prints possible is very satisfying for me. Of course smaller sizes are available too!

As the day went on we drove lap after lap around the park in ever changing conditions, periodically making short hikes at various viewpoints and many more images were made. Around 2pm we happened upon a coyote hunting gofers in the El Capitan Meadow. I switched to my 200-600mm lens and began watching and photographing the coyote. It wandered closer as it zigzagged back and forth, eventually after a short pause and some careful listening it made it's pounce on an unsuspecting vole. I was fortunate enough to capture these images:

After the midday coyote shoot the snow began falling again and we revisited Yosemite Valley View again. I put on some hip waders and ventured out into the Merced River to get a little closer to some foreground elements and came away with this image:

Yosemite Valley and the Merced River in Winter.

As I stood thigh deep in the water, moderate sized pieces of slush drifted downstream around my legs and through my tripod. It was a great experience. There’s something special about standing in water to capture an image and during winter that feeling is amplified.

Later that day the snowfall began to intensify and on our final lap around the valley we stumbled upon another coyote (or maybe the same one) and although the light had mostly gone and the snowfall was now nearing blizzard conditions I attempted to make some images. Most were blurry due to the slow shutter speed in low light while handholding the camera but the few that turned out were pure magic in the wet heavy snow.

A Yosemite Valley Coyote hunting voles in twilight as snow begins to fall.

After walking along the path following the movements of the coyote as much as we could we headed back to the car as the snow intensified and the remaining light faded away. This would be our last shoot of the trip and Yosemite National Park would close two days later due to heavy snow accumulation.

The variety of images we were able to capture on this brief trip was fantastic and I hope to revisit this spectacular place again next winter.