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Archive 2016 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)

  
 
snapsy
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Yosemite-s-Firefall-is-a-photographer-s-dream-6850529.php


Feb 24, 2016 at 01:00 PM
PhilPDX
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Unfortunately, there are far too many places across the globe which are loved to death by photographers and/or tourists alike.

-Phil



Feb 24, 2016 at 01:35 PM
Mark Metternich
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


ckcarr wrote:
Landscape Photography, once a relaxing day of solitude and tranquility for the individual, was a way to absorb and enjoy nature at it's best, in the great outdoors all alone. It's now become a fever pitched race from one icon to the next, along with many other photographers, in an effort to "top" the latest, greatest image most recently posted on the internet, or to "be there" and show everyone that you "were there", regardless of the quality of the final images. Booking flights cross country, or internationally... well, these are not the vacations of old. Leave the family behind...
...Show more

Although I like to always stay a positive person with a positive attitude, I cant help but to agree here. I have a friend from this forum who went here for this shoot, and he called me to tell me there were countless hundreds of people here, shoulder to shoulder, and cars parked literally for many, many miles. Just 6 years ago when he shot it he said he felt alone in the forest. The cheap postage stamp collecting approach to photography is ugly to me. What I mean is the segment of people who shoot with the "been there, done that" attitude, instead of with a profound appreciation for nature. If I ever quit photography for a living, I still will go to nature like I always have! Essentially, it is not about the photos for me. It is about healing, rest, solitude, and to be blown away in awe by the creation... a John Muir - " scripture of nature" approach. Today, when I see a crowd, in most cases I turn and run the other way. There are far too many more original locations still out there if one is willing to work a little bit to see it. One mere example is the whole Oregon Coast. Everyone goes to Bandon, Cape Kiwanda and Cannon Beach (which I too love) but there are 350 miles of awesome original locations to be seen and explored... Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-icons (or anti photographers!) in fact I am glad more people are enjoying and appreciating the beauty of nature, but the sheer masses with cameras are starting to get ridiculous today. I can only hope that more people than not, will also have a profound reverence for nature!



Feb 24, 2016 at 02:03 PM
ckcarr
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Ha Mark, you quoted me, but I'd deleted it. Not sure why...


Feb 24, 2016 at 02:16 PM
Mjollnir
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


I'm not longer even remotely interested in shooting it, but the odd thing is that you can get almost right up under it with a little effort, get a totally different angle, and almost no one does so.

The shots I've seen on FB from friends who were there this year of the groups of photogs are ridiculous.



Feb 24, 2016 at 02:17 PM
jord217
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Here's my thought on places like this. As long as the area is left clean and is respected by the people there, then who cares? If it gets people out of the house to see something that they might not have bothered to visit then I think it's great. It also brings the national park system some revenue which is always a good thing. I, like many of you, like my solitude when I'm out photographing. If I end up going to a place where there is going to be a ton of people, I just prepare myself with some deep breathes, throw on the headphones, and zone out It's not hard to find solitude if you want it though. I've got my nooks and crannies in Capitol Reef where I can disappear on the most crowded day and see absolutely nobody.

I guess the internet is a blessing and a curse. I expect that many more places once considered sacred or secret will have light shed upon them(no pun intended) and will be opened up to the masses. You can't really get mad about it though. Just take comfort in the fact that these places were here long before we were, and they'll be here long after



Feb 24, 2016 at 03:03 PM
Greg Campbell
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Well, time to add Horsetail to to Mesa Arch, Horseshoe Bend, light beams in Jackalope Canyon, Bridge at Zion, Zabriskie Sunrise, and another few dozen "Trophy Shots" that people run around trying to 'hit' before they die. All so they can show their Grand Trophy' to the Camera Club back home. Yea! (Yes, that's sarcasm! )

Instead of fighting the hordes, go in the pre-dawn hours, when the setting, near-full moon illuminates the water. You'll need to do a bit of research, but the reward will be tranquility and something that is actually semi-unique.



Feb 24, 2016 at 05:05 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Something I wrote about this elsewhere:

It has been some time since I made a photograph of Horsetail Falls, the now-famous "natural fire fall" that has the potential to appear every February. Recently I re-shared someone else's album of photographs from this year's madhouse, where hundreds (thousands?) of photographers showed up to "capture" the thing. In the ensuing discussion someone — actually several someone's — mentioned the unfortunate loss of solitude connected to the experience.

There is much I could write about this (including at least one positive thought about joining the throng) but I'll just share one little story about this event and solitude — and perhaps make some people a bit jealous in the process.

A few years back the park service had closed Northside Drive, the road heading west out of the center of the Valley, for extensive repair work. It was shut down for the whole winter season, along with some cross-valley roads, and there was two-way traffic on Southside Drive. That year I wanted to photograph Horsetail.

I parked my vehicle near the closed crossover road between Southside and Northside. There was plenty of parking. I loaded up a pack with photography gear and warm clothes, and I set out across the Valley on the unplowed roadway. I arrived more than an hour before the light would appear, so instead of turning east toward the spot from which I would photograph the fall, I turned west and walked along snow-covered El Capitan Meadow.

I was the only person at El Cap Meadow. I worked quietly for an hour or so in the cold and snow, making photographs of the snowy trees in silence. Finally, it seemed like time to think about photographing Horsetail, so I shouldered the pack again and started walking east, passing the snow-covered cross-valley road and continuing to a little parking loop from which the fall is visible. If I recall correctly, there might have been as many as a half dozen other people there, all of whom had also walked in.

We worked quietly in the cold evening, watching the light arrive on the granite face and the drifting water and mist from the fall, making photographs in those beautiful last moments when the color is intense but about to fade... and then the light was gone. Quietly I packed up again and began walking in the failing light, back to El Cap Meadow, back across the Valley, and I arrived at my vehicle in darkness.

Perhaps that sublime evening explains why I don't photograph the Horsetail "fire fall" any more? :-)

- - - -

On the other hand, the very last time I photographed it I recall being among a group of photographers — though nothing like the mob scene described from this year — and thinking how astonishing and wonderful (in a non-photographic way) it was that scores (then, but now hundreds or thousands) of people had dropped what they were doing, come from literally all over the world, to stand in a beautiful snow--covered bit of Sierra Nevada meadow in the cold, eyes cast upwards, hoping to be able to view a miraculous and momentary beam of light strike an expanse of granite high above them.

- - - -

On the subject of photographing this place, someone wrote:
"Sweet! I can see why a billion people squeeze shoulder to shoulder to get these types of images. Beautiful!"


- - - -

And, fortunately, there are still small miracles in a thousand other places if we just look for them. Photography is whatever you make it. :-)

Dan

Edited on Feb 25, 2016 at 11:42 AM · View previous versions



Feb 24, 2016 at 10:44 PM
chez
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Firstly, what gives anyone the right to think these beautiful places should be only for themselves? People call them "iconic shots" as if that is bad...yet they want to or have also shot it. So you wanting to get this shot is different than your fellow photogs wanting the shot?

Secondly, many people travel from all around the world to see and photograph beautiful scenery. They don't know about other secret locations so they flock towards the obvious places that are written up in books. I see this here when someone asks the forum about an agenda for two weeks in the southeast and they get the "iconic" tour as suggestions.

My suggestion is if you don't like the crowds, stay away from these places. If you want these "iconic shots", then you need to line up with others just like you that want the shot as well...you are no different than that person next to you, no more right to get the shot in solitude then everyone else there.



Feb 25, 2016 at 08:24 AM
Craig Gillette
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Even years ago there was the "National Geographic" effect, that previously lightly explored areas were changed by the subsequent "crowds" that followed NG articles. It can't be helped. This is an amazing spectacle, of course people will want to see it and photographers take pictures. I suppose it may come to the point that they have to use a lottery system for the prime areas, like they do in other impacted areas. The big problem here is the slim window of opportunity between light angles and weather. If it happened on a daily basis, it would still be spectacular but the crowds would fall off. Note that even in "off season" so to speak, crowds gather at Glacier Point for sunset on Half Dome, etc.


Feb 25, 2016 at 02:16 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Craig Gillette wrote:
Even years ago there was the "National Geographic" effect, that previously lightly explored areas were changed by the subsequent "crowds" that followed NG articles. It can't be helped. This is an amazing spectacle, of course people will want to see it and photographers take pictures. I suppose it may come to the point that they have to use a lottery system for the prime areas, like they do in other impacted areas. The big problem here is the slim window of opportunity between light angles and weather. If it happened on a daily basis, it would still be spectacular
...Show more

I think you hit some important points there. One of the issues with Horsetail is, or soon will be, the impact of the very large numbers of people on some very small spots from which the photograph is possible. You can't photograph it from just anywhere in the Valley, for a number of reasons, and almost everyone photographs it from two very accessible spots that have not been "hardened" for such crowds. So there is, I think, a legitimate concern about the simple impact of so many people on the health of the area. (At one of the locations it might be possible to try to limit folks to working from a small paved parking area that has a good line of sight — in fact, it is the "classic" view of the thing.)

As to the questions about whether or not to focus on photographing icons, I don't think the answer is as black and white as some might think. For folks trying to produce photographic art that isn't another shot of a familiar thing, photographing this subject isunlikely to be photographically rewarding — though seeing the event can be quite interesting. At the same time, there is a long tradition of learning how to do things by emulating those who did these things well in the past — so, if learning is the goal there can be fine reasons for recapturing a subject that has already been "done." And it is not inconceivable that one could produce a truly original photograph of the subject.

(A friend created an "almost-night" photograph of it a couple years ago that was unlike any of the many others I have seen, and I have an idea for a photograph of it that is different from anything I've seen. You can bet that if I'm there and the right conditions exist for the photograph I have in mind that I'll be right out there with my camera.)

I certainly don't resent anyone who sees Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View for the first time and makes a photograph. Heck, I still photograph there from time to time, and I've been going to and photographing the park for decades! (Mostly I photograph in other places in the park, but that makes sense for me given my long familiarity with the nooks and crannies of the place.)

Dan



Feb 25, 2016 at 02:38 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


My the way, I'll be in The Valley tonight — not to photography Horsetail, but for the opening of the Yosemite Renaissance 31 exhibit featuring the work of artist who work in and around Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, including photographers, painters, sculptors, and more. It is sponsored by the Ansel Adams Gallery and others.

Tonight (Friday, February 26) is the Artist Reception at 5:30pm - 7:30pm in the Visitor Center Gallery. It is free and open to the public, and it is usually a pretty fun party! The official run of the show is from Saturday, February 27 to May 1, after which it moves to other places in California.

I'm honored that one of my photographs was selected for the show again this year. If you are in the Valley, stop by and say "hello!"

Dan

http://gallery.gdanmitchell.com/gallery/var/resizes/NaturalWorld/TheLandscape/California/SierraNevada/EasternSierra/Color/BasaltColumnsLichenFallPlants20151009.jpg



Feb 26, 2016 at 02:55 PM
wayne seltzer
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Dan.

I photographed Horsetail that year too and remember trudging through deep snow from Southside drive towards Merced river to reach a spot to take the shot just in time.Although I miss the smaller crowds 6 yrs ago when I last shot it, I braved the crowds this last Monday on the Southside road spot and the clear skies held out and the show took place. I met some very nice and interesting fellow photographers. Usually, I stay away from crowds like this and prefer the enjoyment of solitude in nature but it still is an amazing unique phenomenon to see.
Have a great time at the gallery show up there this weekend and congrats on your Devil's PostpIle image getting selected this year!




Feb 27, 2016 at 05:28 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


wayne seltzer wrote:
Dan.

I photographed Horsetail that year too and remember trudging through deep snow from Southside drive towards Merced river to reach a spot to take the shot just in time.Although I miss the smaller crowds 6 yrs ago when I last shot it, I braved the crowds this last Monday on the Southside road spot and the clear skies held out and the show took place. I met some very nice and interesting fellow photographers. Usually, I stay away from crowds like this and prefer the enjoyment of solitude in nature but it still is an amazing unique phenomenon to
...Show more

Thanks, Wayne. The opening went well and the photograph was well received. I'll probably drop by there again today to see the show without the opening reception crowd.

There is something about the human experience of joining with a lot of people to see and experience an unusual event. I am not a complete loner when photographing — though I do work that way often, too — and I enjoy the camaraderie of being with others who appreciate the outdoors and these places. I have in mind an article about the pluses of "sharing the experience," and I'm sure I'll write it for the blog eventually.

I'm in the Valley with my wife, who has not seen Horsetail, and I offered her the opportunity to go take a look. But when we drove past on our way into the Valley she took one look and said, no. ;-)

Dan



Feb 27, 2016 at 11:54 AM
wayne seltzer
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


Sounds like a good time as I bet Claudia and Michael are there too. You should show your wife the special abc 7 new video of the Horsetail circus taken on Sat. Just Google Yosemite fire fall 2016. The video shows one photographer in waders who took his shots from deep in the Merced river. Not too crazy.
Most of the people I met there were nice but there was one pretentious guy leading a workshop group who left early after the first golden light show faded and missed the more red light that lit the falls a second time. His group had to have heard the cheers as they got to their cars when the falls lit up again. Must have been embarrassing for the poor instructor guy.
Rule #1 Never leave till it's over!
I will visit the exhibition up there the next time i'm in the valley, probably for dogwoods and Redbud.



Feb 27, 2016 at 10:28 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


wayne seltzer wrote:
Sounds like a good time as I bet Claudia and Michael are there too. You should show your wife the special abc 7 new video of the Horsetail circus taken on Sat. Just Google Yosemite fire fall 2016. The video shows one photographer in waders who took his shots from deep in the Merced river. Not too crazy.
Most of the people I met there were nice but there was one pretentious guy leading a workshop group who left early after the first golden light show faded and missed the more red light that lit the falls a second
...Show more

Funny you would mention M and C — we just spent the evening together. We talked about the whole Horsetail thing a bit and about how photographing it, for many people, may almost be a sort of reason for what is perhaps more important, namely being there to see such a thing.

The motto for the don't leave to early principle is sometimes stated as "don't pack before its black." We had a bit of that this evening. I (incorrectly) predicted that the light in the Valley was going to die before sunset when some clouds came in — but they mostly cleared later and we had beautiful color this evening.

Take care,

Dan



Feb 27, 2016 at 11:48 PM
JimFox
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


snapsy wrote:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Yosemite-s-Firefall-is-a-photographer-s-dream-6850529.php


So Snapsy? Let's see your Horsetail Falls on Fire photos?

Jim



Feb 28, 2016 at 02:57 AM
snapsy
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Yosemite's 'firefall' is a photographer's dream (and nightmare)


JimFox wrote:
So Snapsy? Let's see your Horsetail Falls on Fire photos?

Jim


Don't have any - I didn't even know 'Horsetail Falls on Fire' existed before stumbling across the story. I posted it because I thought others might find interest in it.



Feb 28, 2016 at 07:28 AM





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