The Clearing Storm
Photography is a game of inches. At least it is for me. I can't begin to tell you how many shots have slipped through my fingers due to a full SD Card, a forgotten battery, a slow buffer, auto focus that refuses to focus....or just a stupid impulsive decision right at game time.
That was me two weeks ago while standing at the tunnel with a completely blah sky. Never mind that 40 photographers were standing patiently next to me behind their tripods waiting for the sky to do something amazing. I knew better. I was going to drive down to the valley view for one more shot before calling it a day.
But as I got to the El Cap turn off, I looked back and there it was. The sun had finally popped out and had lit up the valley in pink and orange. And it was almost gone.
Frick.
So I gunned the accelerator and drove...um...cautiously...like a maniac back to the tunnel. I pulled in, jumped out of the truck and knew I didn't have time for a tripod. I just pulled the camera out and started shooting brackets as fast as I could before all the light disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
The clearing storm has become the Holy Grail of Yosemite Photographers simply because you can't set your watch and head off and get a shot. Unless you live in Mariposa like Jedi Photorgpaher Micahel Frye, there's just no telling what the sky is going to do ahead of time, and generally you git what you git. So to come THAT close and miss it would have been truly criminal. This photo certainly didn't do this scene justice as the valley lit up, but for me it was enough just to be there, camera in hand, shooting away. As I told several of my photography buddies last week while we were shooting in the valley, I was there for four days last Summer and couldn't BUY a cloud. This is truly a stunning valley under every sky imaginable, but there's something about that view through torn clouds that just stops you right in your tracks. I know that was certainly my reaction as I finished shooting....and just stared until the light had gone from the sky.
The Clearing Storm
Photography is a game of inches. At least it is for me. I can't begin to tell you how many shots have slipped through my fingers due to a full SD Card, a forgotten battery, a slow buffer, auto focus that refuses to focus....or just a stupid impulsive decision right at game time.
That was me two weeks ago while standing at the tunnel with a completely blah sky. Never mind that 40 photographers were standing patiently next to me behind their tripods waiting for the sky to do something amazing. I knew better. I was going to drive down to the valley view for one more shot before calling it a day.
But as I got to the El Cap turn off, I looked back and there it was. The sun had finally popped out and had lit up the valley in pink and orange. And it was almost gone.
Frick.
So I gunned the accelerator and drove...um...cautiously...like a maniac back to the tunnel. I pulled in, jumped out of the truck and knew I didn't have time for a tripod. I just pulled the camera out and started shooting brackets as fast as I could before all the light disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
The clearing storm has become the Holy Grail of Yosemite Photographers simply because you can't set your watch and head off and get a shot. Unless you live in Mariposa like Jedi Photorgpaher Micahel Frye, there's just no telling what the sky is going to do ahead of time, and generally you git what you git. So to come THAT close and miss it would have been truly criminal. This photo certainly didn't do this scene justice as the valley lit up, but for me it was enough just to be there, camera in hand, shooting away. As I told several of my photography buddies last week while we were shooting in the valley, I was there for four days last Summer and couldn't BUY a cloud. This is truly a stunning valley under every sky imaginable, but there's something about that view through torn clouds that just stops you right in your tracks. I know that was certainly my reaction as I finished shooting....and just stared until the light had gone from the sky.