I traveled to Yosemite in February 2017 to photograph the Horsetail Falls. There was some snow in the upper elevation but very little in the valley.
Many photographers try to capture the sunset light upon El Capitan in February each year. If the temperature allows for melting snow during the day, a small waterfall runs over a gap in El Capitan's rim. It’s called 'horsetail falls due to its shape and the bright colors at sunset. But, if not enough melting snow occurs or clouds obstruct the setting sunlight, then not much happens from a photographic point of view.
There is a road into the valley and another on each side of the river. There are two views from near the roads, but parking is minimal. From the road going out of Yosemite, one can get a composition from the side view of the falls. From the road coming into Yosemite, one can get a more facing view, which I chose for this photograph.
I parked nearby several hours before sunset and began to scout out my best position to capture the falls. The river prevents you from having too many choices for your position, and several trees can obstruct the view. Several people were coming to set up, some to watch and others to photograph or take a video time-lapse of the sunset over the falls.
The sunset lighting can take over 30 minutes and change from golden to deep red toward the end. The misting water catches the light as well as the main stream. The exposure worked, and I didn’t need to do any post-editing other than cropping and resizing.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor