Mariposa Grove
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
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Aug, 2013Views
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Legendary Award
Lucky 3 Award
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Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on a trail at Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias which is adjacent to the South entrance of Yosemite National Park.Time
I was hiking with my toddler, trying to catch up to the rest of the family who was further up the trail. It was rapidly getting dark yet I wanted to capture these magnificent tall monuments of nature. This particular image was shot just a few minutes before 8pm on a July night and was one of the last shots I got for the day.Lighting
I stuck to the trail and this shot is simply pointing south from the trail we were on. There wasn't much light left where we were because we were surrounded by large trees, but there was some light left in the far trees at the top of the hill. It would have been nice to have a more dramatic sky, but with the fires in the area this particular year it was a bit gray.Equipment
I had just purchased a wide lens, the Tokina AT-X Pro 11-16mm f/2.8 lens and had been using it most of the day on my Nikon D7000. No flash or tripod. This was shot hand held at ISO-100 and f/4 with the focal length set at 11mm (16mm effective).Inspiration
It's very easy to be inspired to take pictures anywhere you are in Yosemite. My particular inspiration this entire trip was to test the new wide lens and for this part of the park a wide lens came in handy. It was difficult to leave Yosemite as this is my favorite place.Editing
I did some basic edits using Lightroom to bring out some of the shadows but decided not to crop this particular photo or do any other edits.In my camera bag
For this particular trip, I brought all I owned at the time: D7000 with spare battery, Nikkor AF-S 35mm f1.8 prime, Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR, and Tokina AT-X Pro 11-16mm f/2.8.Feedback
I think if I were to attempt this again I would hopefully be able to contrast the sky more, perhaps with a circular polarizer. If I had more time this evening, a tripod, and no toddler, I would have done more experimentation with metering and exposure. I think the real point here is the wide lens. If you don't have a wide lens, I suggest getting one!
