Yosemite Falls Star Trails
In late December, I did a hastily-organized trip to Yosemite immediately after a storm passed through. We wanted to photograph the landscape under a fresh blanket of snow, and that's exactly what we got--we had to leave the tire chains on the entire time we were there. In past winter Yosemite trips, I've stayed in the unheated tent cabins in Camp Curry--they have a deal where your nightly rate is the night's low temperature (if the low temperature is 15* F, the cabin is $15). However, all the cabins were completely booked, so we weren't able to get one. Presumably because of last summer's Hantavirus outbreak, Curry Village is remodeling a bunch of the cabins, so there are fewer available, and as a result they're full all the time. We ended up sleeping in the car. We spent the first night parked at Tunnel View ("We'll be well-positioned for sunrise!") and the second night in the Camp 4 parking lot ("This can't possibly be as sketchy as Tunnel View.").
The landscape in this photo was lit by a full moon, but clouds were rapidly moving across Yosemite Falls, making it difficult to shoot star trails. I shot about an hour's worth of 4-minute exposures, and stacked the 4 best to produce this. The iconic elm tree, which I had planned to shoot, fell over. It's another Ansel Adams landmark which is no longer possible to photograph...
Yosemite Falls Star Trails
In late December, I did a hastily-organized trip to Yosemite immediately after a storm passed through. We wanted to photograph the landscape under a fresh blanket of snow, and that's exactly what we got--we had to leave the tire chains on the entire time we were there. In past winter Yosemite trips, I've stayed in the unheated tent cabins in Camp Curry--they have a deal where your nightly rate is the night's low temperature (if the low temperature is 15* F, the cabin is $15). However, all the cabins were completely booked, so we weren't able to get one. Presumably because of last summer's Hantavirus outbreak, Curry Village is remodeling a bunch of the cabins, so there are fewer available, and as a result they're full all the time. We ended up sleeping in the car. We spent the first night parked at Tunnel View ("We'll be well-positioned for sunrise!") and the second night in the Camp 4 parking lot ("This can't possibly be as sketchy as Tunnel View.").
The landscape in this photo was lit by a full moon, but clouds were rapidly moving across Yosemite Falls, making it difficult to shoot star trails. I shot about an hour's worth of 4-minute exposures, and stacked the 4 best to produce this. The iconic elm tree, which I had planned to shoot, fell over. It's another Ansel Adams landmark which is no longer possible to photograph...