I want to thank the folks who entered my little contest. As I mentioned, this was to celebrate my current display at Rochester Civic Theatre. I was pleased that many of my models have been able to see the images I made from our shoots.
The contest winner is Scott Stekel. Scott chose the photograph above, Downstream from Bridal Veil Falls. I shot this photo during a workshop with Moose Peterson in Yosemite a couple years ago. It was my first trip to Yosemite National Park – the place is just incredible, especially for a photographer. It’s so easy to see why the valley drew photographers like Ansel Adams.
We were there in January. There was plenty of snow on the ground – some large snowfalls had occurred in December – and the falls were running great. In terms of getting around, we were lucky in that it wasn’t snowing while we were there, but the roads were a bit icy. On this particular morning, we headed to Bridal Veil Falls. This falls is on the south side of the valley. In January, this means it’s on the side that doesn’t receive a lot of direct sunlight.
The trails below the falls were pretty snow and ice covered. We had already had some mishaps at the base of Yosemite Falls with folks losing their footing. The trail leading to the falls looked particularly tough to navigate. I had my Yak Tracks for my boots – back in the hotel room. We wandered instead around the creek leading away from the falls.
Eventually, I thought I’d try to walk up the trail by walking off to the side where the footing was a bit better. After about 100 feet or so, the trail dried out, and I thought, well this won’t be any problem. But, approaching the base of the falls, it started becoming slick. Very slick. Sort of like polished ice. I could see part of the falls, and the path meandered to the left around some rocks and vegetation. I would take a step and then slide downhill. I tried using my tripod as a walking stick, but it was just not going to happen. I managed to capture a few shots like the one above, but that was it. I wasn’t going to make it to the base or to anywhere with a view of the entire falls. The wind was blowing and even shooting these shots left my lens coated in soon-to-be-icy mist.
I retreated back down the still hazardous trail. But I did take some shots of the flowing water that I liked. The photo Scott selected was my favorite of those. I think I like the color, the movement of the water, and the simplicity and intimacy it presents.
Congratulations Scott! And thanks again for entering!
