I spent 3 year at Castle AFB in Merced, the most I could ever see looking towards Yosemite was the very tops of the Sierras, the foothills blocked everything else. Aside from it not being visable from the valley, the proportion is all wrong.
If you extend the Immoos line-of-sight westward, it passes directly over the Mount Hamilton area east of San Jose, home of the Lick Observatory. AFAIC, there is no doubt that Half Dome is visible from Lick or, even better, the fire tower atop Copernicus Peak - a mile or so to the east.
Turlock is lower, but also significantly closer. Playing with Google Earth, I see no reason to cry "Photoshopper" and lunge for my torch and pitchfork.
It's odd, the most vehement doubters seldom take time to explain WHY this 'must' be a stitch-up. They scream "FAKE" and leave in a tizzy. Relax, guys. Have a beer, stay and chat for a while!
Enough!
Here is a photo from just below Half Dome looking WEST. This view point is easily in the faked photo. Where is the Central Valley?
I posted a MUCH larger image than usual so you can scrutinized the details. http://www.hw-photos.com/forums/pano-halfdome.jpg
Henry, the view in question is to the WSW. As viewed from the shoulder of HD, where your picture was taken, the line of sight lies directly behind Half Dome! The most crucial "detail," the low angle view down the Merced River Canyon, is blocked! I suspect there may be some central valley visibility buried in the haze just to the left of HD.
Greg, in your example, is it even to scale? Is it 2 images old images blended together to show how things line up? Does half dome look even slightly as big from a 400mm taken on the Diablo range? Maybe on one of the high mtns in the Diablo Range but from the floor of the central valley? It's definitely one of those shots that needs to be proven. The guy in the picture was on a lunch break from working in Curry Village, he just teleported through that magic 400mm lens.
This was taken with a focal length of about 100mm, how high up is the far mtns? How far back or how high do you have to be to see half dome?
Henry W wrote:
Enough!
Here is a photo from just below Half Dome looking WEST. This view point is easily in the faked photo. Where is the Central Valley?
I posted a MUCH larger image than usual so you can scrutinized the details. http://www.hw-photos.com/forums/pano-halfdome.jpg
Henry's photo is an obvious fake!
There are not enough people in the image!
Everyone knows how crowded that spot gets!
George
This looks possible. Given at least 7 different photos by 5 different photographers at the spot all showing a view of half dome from the valley, this doesn't look faked.
Here are some of the photos (you have the option to see 100% crop on most of them)
Why, and how, would they all fake this in photoshop? Check the 100% crops most of them offer.
They have to be extremely good to fake those. I can't find any signs that point to being photoshopped. EXIF data are intact on them as well.
The thing we have to remember is that this is not a view seen with your naked eye. You won't see this just by driving down the 99. I know because I've driven by that area a number of times and if I saw Half Dome, I would have noticed. This is a view seen with a telephoto lens and in the case with the flickr image, 200mm + Nikon crop body (1.5x) + 2x TC = 600mm.
For perspective, check out the street view from google maps of the approx. location by doing a search for 5278 Hall Rd, Denair, CA, United States. The barn tower in the foreground of the picture is barely visible with the naked eye on streetview.
Keep in mind also that half dome is HUGE. Trying to spot any details of the valley (road, cars, barn tower, etc) from half dome would probably be like trying to spot people standing on top of half dome from the valley.
Also, no one takes a long telephoto up to half dome to check if they can see the valley. Well, maybe now we will! But again, being visible would not necessarily mean visible with the naked eye. You'll probably need a long telephoto, and know where to look, to spot it.
There's no doubt about it. It's simply true. I have no reason to doubt the half dozen photographers who have provided photo evidence. And your photo from half dome only confirms the unobstructed view from the other side.
The only people who have no evidence are the ones who say it isn't true. No idea why they are so adamantly against it unless they've been to those spots, viewed it with a long lens, and can't spot anything.
Technology certainly changes things a lot. Our ancestors didn't have the 600mm telephoto we can enjoy today, hence they were probably not able to see half dome from that spot and distance.
Ya gotta ask, what's the motivation to fake it? An evil plot by the Denair Chamber of Commerce to get you to go there to see for yourself? And, just because you can't see a valley floor through haze on a particular day doesn't mean a person in the valley can't see the peak you're standing on.
