Taking Pictures in February
Firefall!, unexpectedly
I had written off going to see Firefall this year, the annual spectacle of water and setting sun in Yosemite every February. Rainfall in California was way down through January, I didn't think there would be enough water in Horsetail Falls for Firefall to occur. Yosemite had been closed to visitors throughout January and into the first week of February, I didn't think it would reopen in time for Firefall. My son, Caleb, had his Taekwondo black belt test the week I had planned to head to Yosemite, and I wasn't going to miss his test, so I didn't know how I'd fit a trip into my schedule.
Then, right at the start of February, California received a large storm that dumped mounds of snow on the Sierra. California lifted its regional stay-at-home orders and Yosemite reopened on February 6th. I started to see pictures of this year's Firefall. It was happening, no one was there, and it sounded beautiful.
I made a plan, after Caleb's belt test, I would head up to Yosemite for two days to do my best to capture Firefill. It would be late in the season, a few days past peak, but it should still be happening. As the day approached, I started to look at the weather. The days I had originally planned to go were going to be overcast and snowy. The days I was now planning on going were expected to be clear. I was going to get Yosemite with a fresh layer of snow and clear skies for Firefall. I started to get excited for the photography opportunities I was going to have.
However, the number of visitors to Yosemite was still limited. About 500 cars per day could get a day-use permit, and I was trying to get one for a weekend. Once I had one, it would be good for seven days, but it had to start on the day I was arriving. Permits were released at 8AM, two days before they were good, which made planning hard. Friday morning, I was online at 8AM for a Sunday permit. The reservation website was getting pounded, it was worse than trying to get concert tickets. I tried again and again for three minutes, until the website told me that all of the reservations were gone. I didn't get one.
Now my two-day trip was down to a one-day trip, if I could get a permit during my last chance on Saturday morning. I set my alarm, on a weekend, to ensure I was up in time. At 8AM I was signed in, and added the registration to my cart. The servers were too busy. I tried again, busy. And again, busy. I was starting to lose hope that I'd get a reservation. Then, on my fifth or sixth try the reservation was added to my cart. Quickly I completed the registration. I was headed to Yosemite for one day to try to capture Firefall.
I drove up to Fishcamp, just outside of Yosemite, on Sunday evening so I could get into the park as early as possible with a day-use permit, 5AM. I passed through the gate at 5:10 and didn't see a single other car on my way down into the Valley. I had a loose plan for the day, take some photos during morning golden hour, film a bit of a video mid-morning, and then get to my spot for Firefall by noon. It all worked exactly how I wanted. The first shot I captured that morning (a silhouette of El Capitan and Half Dome) was perfect, it was going to be a great day.
On the walk from Camp 4, where I parked, to where I wanted to take photos of Firefall I met these two photographers from San Francisco who had never seen Firefall before, and we just found a spot to encamp for the afternoon and had a great time just chatting as we waited for the light.
When the time came, we all were focused firmly on our cameras, but about halfway through I looked up and just enjoyed the moment and gazed in wonder at what I was seeing. Firefall is a spectacular sight, and I was lucky to see it for the second time. I already have some plans for how I want to capture it next year.
This Month’s Videos
What I’m Reading
I started reading Susan Sontag's On Photography last month and I'm still not done with it. I've found it to be dense reading that has me spinning off in random directions, chasing threads she introduces that I don't have a full enough context to understand.
At the beginning of the year when I went out searching for photography books to read, a couple different friends suggested On Photography. One said that this is a book they suggest to people regardless of their interest in photography. This is a book that talks as much about culture and society as it does photography.
On nearly every page there is at least one passage that is profound and resonates with me. Much of this book has forced me to examine my own relationship with photography and how photography affects my relationship to the rest of society.
I'm excited to read the rest of this book. I've been enjoying letting it marinate in my head, so it might be a while yet before I'm done with it.
Other Things I've Read
What I’m Watching
I started my Hulu subscription back up just so I could watch In & Of Itself. This was a one-man stage show made into a movie. I had wanted to see it live, but never made it to New York over the two years it was on stage. Adam Savage and Norman Chan spoke of it so highly on the Still Untitled podcast. Knowing that I missed its stage run, I’ve been looking forward to it coming to the movies.
The day it came out, Will Smith (not that Will Smith) tweeted that he had finally watched it after talking to Adam and Norm about it on the podcast so many times. I didn’t know it was being released already, but cleared my schedule once I saw his tweet.
The movie is by the magician Derek DelGaudio. Lately, my son Caleb has been getting in to magic, and by extension I have as well. I asked Will whether I should watch it with Caleb, Will knows how old Caleb is and his interest in magic. Derek is a wonderful magician and card handler, but this isn’t really a magic show and Will said Caleb probably wouldn’t get anything out of the movie. Will would have been right, and I’m very glad I didn’t watch it with Caleb.
You’ll cry during this movie. That’s all I’ll say about it. This is a fabulous movie you should just watch without knowing anything more.
Other Things I’m Watching
The Only Living Boy in New York
The Way I See It
The High Cost of Living
Fathers and Daughters
Only God Forgives
The Ides of March
The Princess Bride: Home Movie
My Name is Sarah
Who I’m Following
This month I've been loving the photos of Josh Boone. The photo above is what really drew my attention to Josh. It has my favorite color palette, those pinks you only get at dawn and twilight in the mountains. Josh has amazing consistency in both theme and style in his work. If you like one of his images, you'll probably like the rest.
Not only are Josh's photos wonderful, he has a great eye for identifying other great photographers. His Twitter feed is full of retweets of the best landscape photos Twitter has to offer. I greatly appreciate how he spends his time sharing and promoting other artists even more than he promotes his own work.
I encourage you to follow Josh. He's young, and has a long future of creating wonderful photographs ahead of him. In a couple decades, when he's a famous as Jimmy Chin, you'll be able to say that you've been enjoying Josh's work since he was a teenager.
