Summer day in Yosemite Valley
Sep, 2014Views
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Contest Finalist in Our National Parks Photo Contest
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margaretdiffenbaugh
June 01, 2017
Love the layers of sun and shade. A very clean landscape that doesn't scatter the eyeballs.
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken during a round-the-world trip I did in 2013, when you reach a point where your life force is not about money, nor power: it's pure WANDERLUST. During my wanderings in San Francisco I met a couple of people who were adventuring around the globe like me and we decided to do part of our trip together. We all shared a massive desire to get to know the best National Parks in the US and it didn't take us too long to about the stunning beauty of Yosemite.Time
We arrived at the park very early in the morning and spent the most of this beautiful summer day exploring the park's many tracks and lookouts; we were absolutely speechless and mesmerized by such a surreal view. By the time we got to the valley it was around 3 pm, and the sky texturized itself with these clouds in preparation for my arrival (or so I like to think). :)Lighting
I'll have to admit that this picture was one of those flukes that happen once in a lifetime. The time of the day was perfect and I loved the shadow cast by the clouds right in the middle of the valley; it gave the shot a magnificent contrast and highlighted the heights of these massive rock formations.Equipment
This picture was taken with my all-time favorite Canon EOS 550D. This camera has been to 42 countries by the time it retired. My lens of choice for this shot was a Sigma 8-16mm ultra-wide angle that gives landscape shots like these a beautiful sense of vastness. That was one of my favourite lenses ever!Inspiration
I have to confess I didn't prepare nor plan to take this shot. When I went to the park all I knew about it was that the National Park was stunning, but didn't have the roughest idea of what to expect. This picture was taken during a moment of ecstasy and disbelief, because this view is one of those rare things in life you have to pinch yourself to realize it's not a dream. Yosemite is beyond doubt the most impressive scenery my eyes have seen so far.Editing
Believe it or not, the only thing I did was to color correct and increase its sharpness a bit. Everything else is as it came from the camera. Oh! And I cropped it a bit to make the composition a bit more harmonic.In my camera bag
That trip was a turning moment in my life. I quit a senior management role in a Bank in Australia to pursue a career as a landscape photographer, which I've been working on since then. As such, I had to upgrade my kit and today you'll see me along the beautiful coast of Sydney capturing its gorgeous scenery with a Nikon D750, plus my two inseparable Tamron lenses (24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8). I confess I still miss that SIGMA 8-16 though.Feedback
Certainly many great shots are captured with lots of preparation and planning in advance ( I know it for a fact). But the best shots in life are those you take because you truly admire the moment or place you're witnessing, and would love to share at least a bit of the privilege you had of seeing it with the world. Changing careers was a life-saver for me, and brought me many stunning moments as the one I lived when I first laid my eyes upon Yosemite Valley.
