There are two things one must see when they visit Yosemite: Half Dome and El Capitan. Luckily, they're both really big so they're really easy to see. There is even one viewpoint that gives you a magnificent view of the two of them next to each other. Unfortunately there were a couple of mild wildfires while I was there so that view was pretty hazy, but other views, while they didn't squeeze both landmarks into a frame, proved very fortuitous. This shot of El Capitan was taken from the valley floor. It was late afternoon, the sky was an amazingly deep blue, and the light was painting a most flattering portrait of the monolith.
Truly this is a majestic piece of earth.
I've always wanted to go to Yosemite. Even before I knew I wanted to go to Italy, I knew I wanted to go to this national park. It's hard to resist - Ansel Adams was a phenomenal ambassador for the place and my parents have talked it up for ages. My Dad even conditioned me to chant "Drain Hetch Hetchy! I'm pissed off!" on cue.
So this year, when it became apparent that Cory and I were actually going to be able to spend one of our birthdays in the same place, he started scheming to take me to that very same national park while I was in California for a visit. What an amazing birthday present to get to spend an autumn day there - the place is truly magnificent!
Unfortunately I made The Rookie Mistake Of All Rookie Mistakes and left my camera in Alaska (and yes, I've already banged my head against the wall hundreds of time as penance), but luckily Cory had his point-and-shoot and it actually allowed you to exert a modicum of control over exposure settings. So, long story short, I was able to get several shots worth keeping (but not good enough so that I could say I don't have to go back!). My favorite is this shot of Half Dome, and it wasn't until I was sitting down on my couch editing the photo with a straight view towards my framed Ansel Adams Half Dome print that I realized... we took our photos from practically the same place. Funny how that works.
So here's to Yosemite, an incomparable natural wonder, and here's to forgetting your camera and therefore having a darn good excuse to visit again.
I have heard grumblings, but fear not, this blog has not been abandoned! I've a lot on my plate these days but still have many, many photos in my repository to post. If you're achin' for some photo love, check out Magnifico, my food blog. I've been going nuts with my camera over there. And please, have a heart - three blogs is a lot for a girl to keep up with!
Once life calms down a little bit (around the new year) I'll be able to focus more attention here.
See you on the flip side.
