When it comes to outdoor photography, timing is everything. So it was great to finally get it ‘right’ for winter snow in Yosemite! I have attempted winter scenes there for a few years, but either we had no snow when I was around, or when the snows were predicted to be good (rare in these drought years we’ve had) I was in Cuba or somewhere out of town! So this time, I was watching weather forecasts and with the series of storms rolling through the bay area on into the Sierra, I knew I had a good chance to experience the pristine moments of freshly fallen snow. I left the house about 4:30 AM, in pouring rain, and drove up into the park, arriving around 10 AM – it had just begun to snow, and it came down fast and thick. It snowed off and on all afternoon. The main image was made while it was snowing, and I liked the effect as it tells the story. The challenge was to keep the big flakes from becoming white ‘blobs’ in my image. Timing was everything in this case, too.
Below are a few other of my favorites. Mother Nature spread out the banquet and I was so grateful to be there!
Enjoy,
You’re killing me Brenda! Good work. Now to do the high math to make this post…. good thing I have a calculator!!! 🙂
Thanks JB! Sorry, I was getting spammed too much for a while. Still looking for a way around the math. I know it’s hard for some… 😉
I am cold just looking at them!
How lucky your creative eye was there to capture these images when the blanket of snow was so fresh! Great images, as always, Brenda!
Thank you, Wendy! I was so very excited, it’s hard to describe my feeling. I stood transfixed at one point, it was so beautiful. I hadn’t been in snow for some time, and it was great. But then I finally pulled myself together and tried to make the most use of my time without rushing around, hurrying the compositions too much…
Cold? You’ve become a ‘wuss’, Wendy! just kidding – I know that in reality you are up for any type of weather when it comes to photography. It was funny though; I have been freezing at home when it’s been mid 40’s during day, mid-to-low 30s at night; I can’t get warm inside the house and really feel it when I’m outside. But when I got into Yosemite, I was fine – and yes, I was dressed for it – with down jacket, sorrel boots, hat/gloves, etc., but I went out in the field to photograph the morning after the storm and didn’t even wear my gloves the entire 1 1/2 hours I photographed there! Maybe I was just so excited I didn’t notice…
I especially love the last two: lovely captures of winter’s exquisite beauty! (We are “snow-starved” here on the east coast so they arrived as a very special ‘gift’.)
Thank you Rita, – it’s such a strange thing to be getting our rain/snow now and having the east coast not getting snow at all! But I did read on Facebook today that there was a foot expected in Maine – but the rest of the east coast? I don’t know. So I’m glad I could remind you of what it can look like on your side of the country.
So Lovely! The photos are amazing. Love the B&W! I think we will get there in May after a wedding in Zion. As long as we fly west, might as well make a vacation of it.
Thank you Sue. Yes, if you can get there in May it will be a lovely time! Early May typically brings the dogwood with their creamy white bracs that are so beautiful, while the forest is still in dormancy. After that, when things start to burst forth with green, it’s also lovely – everything is fresh green, the falls will be really flowing. I hope you do make it there!