National Park Guide » Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day: Lembert Reflection by Robin Black

Loyd — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:08:42 +0000

I really don’t have much to say about this photo other than IT’S THE MOST INSANELY FREAKIN’ COOL PHOTO EVER!…and uh…yeah that pretty much sums it up. Don’t forget to visit Robin’s site, CaliforniaPhotogs.com.

Nice job, Robin.

Photo by Robin Black.

Photo of the Day: Bodie by Magnus Wrenninge

Loyd — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:43:21 +0000

I love Bodie. For the uninitiated, Bodie is a ghost town that’s now a California State Park. The buildings in the town are held in a state of “arrested decay” and serve as an example of what life was like in the late 1800s. It’s about an hour down a dirt road just east of Yosemite and it makes for a pretty fun place to visit with kids. Some of the houses there still have plates and dinnerware on the tables like the residents were sitting down to dinner and just disappeared. Whenever someone asks me about some place to visit close to the park that’s fun I always recommend they check out Bodie.

Besides being a neat place to visit it’s also a great place to take photos. Today’s Photo of the Day is a beautiful black and white of Bodie by Magnus Wrenninge.

Nice shot, Magnus. I hope you have a print of this hanging somewhere everyone can see it. It’s awesome.

Photo by Magnus Wrenninge.

Photo of the Day: Light on Bridalveil by Victor Cajiao

Loyd — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:04:58 +0000

Today’s Photo of the Day comes to us from Victor Cajiao. You may already know Victor as the creator of The Typical Mac User Podcast, and the Typical Shutterbug Podcasts. Two great podcasts that if you’re into photography and Macs you’ll want to check out.

The image is a compilation of 5 bracketed exposures that Victor merged into one HDR image. If you haven’t played around with making HDRs it’s kinda fun. You under expose one 2 images, over expose 2 images and make one exactly what the camera is telling you to expose for. Then using software like Photoshop or Hydra you merge the images. It works best if you’re on a tripod because the software finds points within the photos to use as reference then aligns the photos based on those points. If you move you’ll see weird ghosting in the images. I like the more natural looking HDR images not the surreal ones.

Great shot, Victor.

Photo by Victor Cajiao.

Photo of the Day: Glacial Cirque Mount Hoffmann by Jeffrey Trust

Loyd — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:40:32 +0000

Today’s Photo of the Day is a beautiful shot from one of Yosemite’s bear wranglers, Jeffrey Trust. The photo features Mount Hoffmann’s glacial cirque with a beautiful view of the Sierra in the background.

Awesome shot, Jeffrey.

Photo by Jeffrey Trust.

Photo of the Day: Mathes Crest by Jonathan Fox

Loyd — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:17:08 +0000

Here’s a great Photo of the Day from Jonathan Fox who recently climbed to the top of Mathes Crest. What a view!

Nice shot, Jonathan.

Photo by Jonathan Fox.

Photo of the Day: Remembrance by Jennifer Franklin

Loyd — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:10:34 +0000

In 1942, the United States government forcibly relocated more than 110,000 men, women, and children to remote, military-style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where Japanese American citizens were interned during World War II.

Not much is left of Manzanar today, a handfull of buildings and a small marker, but it continues to be as much a draw today for photographers and visitors as when Ansel Adams shot here. What many people don’t realize is it’s only a few hours down Highway 395 from Yosemite and makes a great and very historic day trip.

Jennifer Franklin took a trip down and came back with this very beautiful black and white photo of the monument with Mount Williamson in the background. Jennifer originally took this photo in color and has been digitally editing it to trying to get a black and white she’s happy with. I think this one is quite alright. I also really like the composition of the image.

Very nicely done, Jennifer.

If you’d like to visit Manzanar on your next trip to Yosemite you can find direction here on the Manzanar National Historic Site webpage. Just use the San Francisco, CA to Manzanar NHS – through Yosemite National Park directions.

Photo by Jennifer Franklin.

Photo of the Day: Room with a View by Joshua Cripps

Loyd — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:23:15 +0000

Today’s Photo of the Day is a great shot by Joshua Cripps (www.joshuacripps.com). I like posting photos where the photographer writes a nice long caption. It not only makes my job easier but you get to learn a little bit about what it took to make the photo. Here’s what Joshua had to say about his photo:

Spent last Saturday in Yosemite teaching a one-day workshop in Hetch Hetchy. The rest of the weekend I tooled around the Valley trying to find unique viewpoints (something which is difficult in a park which receives over 3 million annual visitors). A video of Upper Yosemite Falls I watched earlier in the week gave me an idea for a shot which included the Falls as well as Half Dome.

I didn’t know exactly where to shoot from so at about 6:00 pm I headed out along the Upper Yosemite Falls trail to try to find a spot. After two miles or so I got my first glimpse of the upper falls. And while the view was both impressive and amazing, I realized I need to get much higher for the shot I wanted. Up and up I continued.

I quickly realized that the trail was taking me way too close to the falls and that there was no way I was going to find the vantage point I needed before the light failed. Seeing that an opportunity for a different photo lay before me, I climbed about 50 feet up the rock wall opposite the falls in order to get out of the bushes. It was a little sketchy climbing with all my camera gear, but I eventually made it up to a small ledge where I could get a clear composition.

Then I fired off a few quick shots and climbed back down the cliffs before the light disappeared. And boy does that sound a lot easier than it was … Then it was just a three mile hike in the dark back down to the Valley.

So anyway, this isn’t the exact shot I had envisioned and would like to go back to try achieve something closer to my vision, but I worked hard enough to get this image that I figured it was worth posting.

If you like Joshua’s photo be sure to check out his website for other great photos and his blog for what he’s been up to (he’s got some really awesome ocean shots on both.)

Photo by Joshua Cripps

Photo of the Day: Winter Sunrise by John O’Connor

Loyd — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:08:56 +0000

John O’Connor was kind enough to send me this awesome black and white of Yosemite after he put it up on Flickr and I asked him about it. He said:

“This is an older scan from velvia, I believe. I don’t know, it’s been a while since I’ve looked at the chrome. There’s one MAJOR problem I have with this image, but I’m putting it out there any ways.”

I think it’s pretty awesome and would look great matted and framed.

If you like John’s photo be sure to check out more of his stuff over on his website, JohnOConnorPhoto.com, and read his blog MeditationsOnAMoment.com where you can find out more on what went into making his beautiful photos.

Don’t forget you can always buy a print from John. Buying photos and art from local artists helps them out so they can continue make beautiful pictures and art.

Thanks for sharing, John.

Photo of the Day: Sentinel Panorama by Grant Williams

Loyd — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:40:14 +0000

Yesterday’s Photo of the Day featured a beautiful sunset photo by Cameron Grant. Today we have an awesome daylight panorama from Sentinel Dome by Grant Williams.

This is definitely one of those photos that you’re going to want to view large.

Great shot, Grant. Thanks for adding it to the Yosemite Blog Group Pool on Flickr.

Hey if you’d like to show off your photo and you’re on Flickr feel free to add it to the Yosemite Blog Group Pool. There’s no criteria to add it to the pool other than you don’t mind if I post it on the blog as Photo of the Day or in a post. All photos are ALWAYS attributed to the photographer if they’re used in a post or as Photo of the Day.

Photo by Grant Williams.

Photo of the Day: Top of the World by Cameron Grant

Loyd — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 06:29:39 +0000

I’ve always loved the view from Sentinel Dome and sunset is one of my favorite times to be up there. This great photo from Cameron Grant is a perfect example why.

Nice shot, Cameron.

Photo by Cameron Grant.