Shirley Canyon

Shirley Canyon Falls in Olympic Valley, one that I had stored in the back of my mind for a while. I stumbled across this while hiking the southern end of the Donner Crest. I was feeling a little out of photo ideas, so I decided I would just go explore, and not worry too much about photos. At the beginning of the hike, I unexpectedly ended up here.

It was early morning when I arrived, and I only had time for a couple shots before the sun rose too high over the trees and blew out the frame. I took my few shots, and went on my way to Donner Crest. When I got home to look at the photos, I liked it, but thought maybe I could do better. I began to wonder what it would look like at dusk, maybe I could get some cool light rays shining through the trees. So the very next day I decided to go back. 

I thought if I got there around 5:00, I wouldn't have to wait around too long. I didn't want to be too early, but I also wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. I ended up getting there around 4:30, and the sun didn't get to a good place till 6:30-7:00. So lots of waiting. Luckily, I had service, and the Angels were playing, so I just hung out by the waterfall and watched Baseball while I waited for the sun to go down.

When the sun finally descended, the scene came alive. Light beams pierced through the trees, casting a natural spotlight onto the flowers, illuminating the pinks and creams. The sun, softly glowed behind the trees and over the waterfall. This was it, my vision brought to life. I got the shot, and the Angels won... it was a good day. All because I decided not to worry about being super calculated and to try to just have fun. Isn't it funny how creativity always seems to stem from play? Whenever we feel creatively stuck, we just have to get back to why we started in the first place, and inspiration always seems to flow.