Wonders of California…

I took a trip to Yosemite National Park in April of this year, with Colby Brown, a friend and photographer. We were set to have a week-long stay in the park, to photograph the many waterfalls and features. A strong rainstorm moved in, a few days into the trip, causing us to pack up camp, for fear of falling branches from the very large evergreens that fill the area. My few days in the park were enough to capture a dozen great shots of some of the more prominent features.

Timeless Valley - Yosemite National Park

This is a panoramic of Yosemite Valley, from the Tunnel View area. This is the powerful image that you see as you exit the tunnel, and enter Yosemite Valley. To the left is El Capitan, a 3,000 ft vertical rock formation. To the right is Bridalveil Fall, a 617 ft waterfall that flows year round. Off in the distance is Half Dome (shrouded in clouds) a granite crest that rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor, shaped by a glacier.

For that panoramic, I used the Nikon 50mm f1.4G Prime lens to take 3 vertical shots of the valley. I stitched those shots together using Adobe Photoshop, which did an incredible job, automatically. The shot required a bit of tweaking in Lightroom 3, in order to pull out some detail in the heavy shadows on the valley floor.

After being rained out of Yosemite, we headed to the Bay Area, to visit Inverness, CA. This was scenery that I had never witnessed before. Such gorgeous rolling green hills, and unique landscapes. I fully intend to head back that way for some more shooting. While there, we stopped at McClures Beach, on the Point Reyes National Seashore, and was treated to a phenomenal sunset.

Stormy Sunset - McClures Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore

The wind made it hard to stand, the ocean was dynamic and violent, and the distant storm clouds were moving in over the Pacific. This was a powerful experience.

As with any landscape shot that includes the sky, a graduated neutral-density filter can be a very useful tool for sunset shots. Grad NDs darken the sky, while gradually becoming clear towards the center. Because of how low the sun is in a sunset scene, in relation to the horizon, normal graduated neutral-density filters aren’t quite as effective. There is, however, a tool for the job. The Daryl Benson Reverse Neutral-Density Graduated Filter confronts this issue by concentrating the tint at the center of the filter and gradually clearing towards the top. The Reverse ND Grad is my preferred filter for sunsets, and was used on the above shot from McClures Beach.

I hope you enjoy these two new images. I know I have! I cannot wait to get back out that way, it is truly an awe-inspiring place.

Thanks for reading, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Nick

Don’t forget to enter to win a FREE 16 x 24in print of “Sun, Sand and Surf” by responding to the contest post on the Facebook page. Ends July 21st!

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