Dale Matson
Click On Photographs To Enlarge
One of the perks of living in Fresno California is
relatively quick access to Yosemite National Park. I can leave my home and be
at the south gate of Yosemite in an hour and at the end of Glacier Point Road
in only an additional hour (2 hours total). This means I can head up in the
early morning, get some iconic shots from these three great locations and be
back home in the afternoon.
What never fails to amaze me is discovering geographic
features from these locations I had not previously realized. This trip I
realized one could see Mt. Conness from both Washburn Point and Sentinel Dome.
Mt. Conness is on the eastern edge of the Park and an important part of the
Ansel Adams classic photograph of Tenaya Lake. Of the three locations, I think
Sentinel Dome provides the least people and most (360 degrees) perspectives. I
don’t park in the lot by the toilets, which fill up pretty fast in the morning.
I continue on, begin the descent to Washburn and Glacier Points and park across
Glacier Point Road from a gated service road. I then walk up the road till it
intersects the regular trail. This involves a tad more up hill walking but less
distance hiking.
The biggest problem is that the best lighting for
photographs is later in the afternoon when these areas have the most traffic. I
never go there on the weekends!
There are controlled burns along
Glacier Point Road, which diminish the photographs.
When
I was younger, I often skied Glacier Point Road for photographs and used
snowshoes to climb Sentinel Dome. The air is pristine in the winter with few
folks who are willing to do the 21-mile ski from Badger Pass to Glacier Point
and back.
Glacier Point Road Winter
On this occasion I used my Sony A7R2 and 24-70mm 2.8 GM lens
and an adapted Canon 400mm f4 lens. I also coupled it with a 1.4X extender.
This provided some unique shots and brought distant feature very close. I think
the best lens combination for these locations would be the 24-70mm and 70-200mm
lenses.
Clouds Rest 400mm
Banner Ritter
Yosemite Falls
Ostrander Rocks
Cathedral Rocks
El Capitan
Recent Snow
People On Half Dome Nose (Crop) 400mm
Illilouette Falls 400mm From Washburn Point
Mt. Clark 400mm
Mt. Conness 560mm
Mt. Hoffman 560mm
Mt. Star King 400mm
Nevada Falls 400mm From Glacier Point
Liberty Cap Nevada And Vernal Falls
Summit Meadow Frost
Tenaya Peak 400mm
Vernal Falls 400mm
Yosemite Falls