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Yosemite Valley Color Before the Sunrise

One of the more popular places to see the Yosemite Valley is at the Tunnel View. You can see El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls while looking down into the valley. I got up to see the sunrise and one of the first photos I took was the orange glow of the horizon before the sun rose. The longer exposure with my neutral density filter gave the sky a nice glow giving a nice background for the Half Dome silhouette and allowed a little light to hit El Capitan. It had been raining and overcast for few days so it was nice to get a clear morning for this image.

Dawn Wall

El Capitan rises nearly 3,600 feet above the valley floor (7,569 feet above sea level) making it one of the most prominent features in Yosemite national park. It is a beautiful granite rock. I took the photo in El Capitan meadow where people stop to see rock climbers go straight up. The wall that is lit up with the rising sun is appropriately called the Dawn Wall. It is the hardest part of the rock to climb (see “The Dawn Wall” documentary). There was a nice layer of fog at the base of El Capitan that morning.

El Capitan Reflection

A reflection of the BIG granite Rock called El Capitan in early morning sunlight. El Capitan rises nearly 3,600 feet above the valley floor (7,569 feet above sea level) and the Merced River flows thru the Yosemite Valley. The river flow is slow in September and provides opportunities to get a nice refection image. It had been a raining and overcast few days and when the sun came out, i wanted to get El Capitan in the reflection of the Merced River. The rainfall made the green pop as well.

Park River Sunset

Colorful sunset of the Park River in eastern North Dakota, a few feet from confluence with the Red River. The flat plains leads to big skies

Horsetooth Summer Storm

During the summer, we see a number of lightning storms come from the front range foothills and out on the Colorado plains. In Fort Collins, this typically means it starts near horsetooth rock and reseervior. This night i captured a number of lightning sticks but it was unusual since the storm was heading south instead of east.