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stevesomers

El Capitan Under Moody Skies

February 2010 capture during a storm transition in Yosemite National Park.

February 2010 capture during a storm transition in Yosemite National Park.
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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

settings

Aperture f/8 ISO 100 Shutter 1/640 Focal Length 100/1

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Sep, 2019

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo of El Capitan was captured from the Tunnel View parking area during a time when winter storm activity was high.

Time

This is a sunrise photo, which began as a dreary, heavily clouded situation. It was one of those moments when your perserverance as a landscape photographer is tested. One must anticipate a future result from how weather patterns unfold. In this situation, it might be easy to stop by and decide that setting up for a shoot is not worthwhile; but then, with this rapidly changing weather, what else is one to do? Where else would one, should one, go? I decided to wait it out and suddenly a few sun beams came through a random hole in the cloud cover to make all the difference.

Lighting

As a landscape photographer, I've often been in this situation where the appearance of weather conditions creates much consternation about staying or leaving. There is no right answer and one goes on a hunch. With experience, we can sometimes come out on the other side of an experience with something extraordinary. This was one of those moments. In just a fleeting time frame, some clouds moved apart to allow a few morning sun beams to penetrate the scene and light up a portion of El Capitan in a very elegant way.

Equipment

Camera was a Canon 5D MarkII, Canon 100-400mm telephoto, Gitzo 1548 tripod with BH-55 RRS ball head.

Inspiration

Being in Yosemite National Park is all the inspiration one needs! I love this place and always hope to be there when a storm is arriving or clearing. These weather movements create the most dramatic effects to enhance the natural landscape. When I visit the Tunnel View location, I am always rewarded with something I did not expect and this is no exception. But, it did require some patience to wait until the decisive moment.

Editing

I process most of my images in Adobe Lightroom. Occasionally, I use Photoshop for edits requiring layers. The amount of fog, mist, and overall cloudiness requires some work to improve the local contrast in the image to bring forward the subtlety of the experience. As no camera sees just the way a human can see, there is some effort required to bring back that sense of presence and reality of the moment.

In my camera bag

These days, I shoot mostly with the Fujifilm GFX100 medium format camera along with a limited selection of Fuji GF lenses and the ability to reuse much of my Canon lens lineup using a smart adapter. I use a wide range of focal length lenses depending on the circumstances.

Feedback

When the weather looks bad, go out anyway. Bad weather is not a limitation, it provides opportunities. Be patient and stick to your gut feeling. You won't always get what you want; but when you do, it will be priceless and one-of-a-kind.

See more amazing photos, follow stevesomers

stevesomers

stevesomers

El Capitan Under Moody Skies

February 2010 capture during a storm transition in Yosemite National Park.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow stevesomers

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