Winter Sunrise From The Gates Of The Valley
This is one of those shots that I woke up painfully early for and wasn't quite sure it would be worth it. After getting about 3 hours of sleep at a Motel 6 in Fresno, I woke up at 4 AM and headed up into the valley hoping for some new snow and a clearing storm. After getting snowed out in 2011, I wasn't taking any chances on highway 41, and ended up taking 140 up instead. The forecast had snow falling down to the 2500 foot level, so I was expecting to put on chains in Mariposa. But there was no snow in Mariposa let alone anywhere on the 140. As I entered the lower border of the park, my heart sank. There was no snow to be seen and it looked like the forecast was completely wrong. I was just about to give up when I finally spotted some snow as I approached the deserted Ranger check in point. After a few more turns, the snow was 2-3 inches and even though it wasn't too deep, it had settled on every branch in the valley.
I pulled up to the tunnel view by around 5:30 AM and for quite some time, I was literally the only one standing on that side of the park. No people, no cars....just me and an incredibly gorgeous view of the park as daylight crept into the sky. After shooting for a short while up there, I made a quick loop around the park as the Three Brothers and the Chapel were way at the top of my list of things to shoot on a snowy morning. But I didn't stay too long as I knew I wanted to get back to the Gates of the Valley to grab a few brackets before the snow as gone from the branches. About an hour after I had taken this shot, most of the snow was gone on the North side of the valley.
I was very grateful to have just enough snow to work with that morning....and for the moments where I had the entire valley with new snow all to myself at the tunnel. Those 30 minutes or so were well worth the three hour night in Motel 6.
William McIntosh Photography | 500px | Twitter | Google +
Winter Sunrise From The Gates Of The Valley
This is one of those shots that I woke up painfully early for and wasn't quite sure it would be worth it. After getting about 3 hours of sleep at a Motel 6 in Fresno, I woke up at 4 AM and headed up into the valley hoping for some new snow and a clearing storm. After getting snowed out in 2011, I wasn't taking any chances on highway 41, and ended up taking 140 up instead. The forecast had snow falling down to the 2500 foot level, so I was expecting to put on chains in Mariposa. But there was no snow in Mariposa let alone anywhere on the 140. As I entered the lower border of the park, my heart sank. There was no snow to be seen and it looked like the forecast was completely wrong. I was just about to give up when I finally spotted some snow as I approached the deserted Ranger check in point. After a few more turns, the snow was 2-3 inches and even though it wasn't too deep, it had settled on every branch in the valley.
I pulled up to the tunnel view by around 5:30 AM and for quite some time, I was literally the only one standing on that side of the park. No people, no cars....just me and an incredibly gorgeous view of the park as daylight crept into the sky. After shooting for a short while up there, I made a quick loop around the park as the Three Brothers and the Chapel were way at the top of my list of things to shoot on a snowy morning. But I didn't stay too long as I knew I wanted to get back to the Gates of the Valley to grab a few brackets before the snow as gone from the branches. About an hour after I had taken this shot, most of the snow was gone on the North side of the valley.
I was very grateful to have just enough snow to work with that morning....and for the moments where I had the entire valley with new snow all to myself at the tunnel. Those 30 minutes or so were well worth the three hour night in Motel 6.
William McIntosh Photography | 500px | Twitter | Google +