Clearing smoke

11:30AM

Having finished lunch with the group at the Cathedral Beach picnic area, I’m sitting at a table on a sandbar in the Merced River, which is slow, narrow and shallow at the moment. Though it’s a cool day, it's also sunny and the steady breeze has leared some of the haze. While I sit here basking in the sun, this is my view.

We started out the morning at the base of Bridal Veil Falls, a thin wisp of water falling off the edge with mist blowing up and back, forming a multi-colored corona above the cliffs. When the Bridal Veil is really flowing, I understand one gets soaked at the spot on which we were standing. As it was today, our cameras are dry (good) and my photographs pretty ordinary (oh well). From there we split up, wandering out amongst the rocks, through the woods searching out the softer light and those eye-catching views, large and small, about which Mark is teaching us.




Since things were so contrasty, I experimented with black-and-white and, naturally, given where I am and in homage to Ansel Adams, the red filter.

This expedition is affording me time and space, not only to think and ponder, but to get to know my camera better and to reclaim an understanding of the interplay among ISO values, shutter speed and f-stop. Our fully programmed cameras are a wonder – easy and quick, but I’m having a blast using the light meter and running on manual.

4:30 PM

Now I’m resting my feet at Glacier Point, where we are waiting for sunset and the chance to photograph Half Dome in the warming light. Sitting on a rock wall, my back to the sun, I've been so comfortable – up until a very few moments ago. The sun has dropped below the trees and I’m beginning to shiver.

Since lunch we’ve been back to the Yosemite Lodge for a quick rest, to prepare for the afternoon and to down-size to a smaller bus – 24-passenger as opposed to 48. It’s a 32-mile drive from the valley floor to Glacier Point and the road is pretty narrow, steep and surprisingly well-traveled. One photo opportunity before this two-hour stop was at nearby Washburn Point where we could see into the Yosemite Wilderness – the Little Yosemite Valley, Mount Clark, toward Tuolumne Meadows and beyond to higher and obviously drier mountains. Nearerby, we could actually see flowing falls, three sets: the Nevada Falls, the Vernal Falls, and Illioutte Falls. This photograph contains the first two, but I’ll bet they’re too small to pick out.



8:45 PM

Back in my room, I am too tuckered out for words. Several of our group have gone to supper in the vicinity of the lodge, but I’m skipping that event, attractive as it was. I have water, an apple and some trail mix and that will have to be sufficient for supper.

It got colder at Glacier Point! Alecia, our driver, ran the heat much of the way back here. While we didn’t stay until the sun was completely down, the light did change beautifully. And, once we left Glacier Point, we couldn’t pass by Washburn Point without stopping again. And, because we left Glacier Point early, look what we encountered on a curve lower down the road.



We depart Yosemite in the morning and will be traveling to Mono Lake via the Tioga Pass. And, that’s just the beginning, getting us to lunch and at early afternoon check in at the Lake View Lodge. Shortly after that we’ll go to South Tufa, have a geology lesson and stay for the sunset. I'm going to stroll to the Yosemite Lodge lobby -- where the internet access is -- and post this. And, I’ll keep writing and post the next entry when I can. Thanks again for reading.