Yosemite Sunrise

Sunrise at Yosemite Valley, a sunrise I had to wake up at 2am to see.

When ideas for fall color were being tossed around in my head, this one kept coming up. The river, El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, it looked amazing, something I really wanted to add to my portfolio. For about a month, I was constantly checking the Fall color conditions. When the time seemed right, I had two days that I could make it down there, one had no clouds in the forecast, the other said clouds with a 70% chance of rain. Hoping the rain would come later in the day, I chose the latter. 

I set my alarm for 2am, making this the earliest I have ever waken up for a photo, made my coffee, and tried to get out of the house as soon as I could. It would be a 3.5 hour drive in the dark to Yosemite Valley, trying to pay attention to what I could see of the clouds, looking for any signs of clouds that would light up. I arrived a half hour before sunrise, and I had never been here before, so I didn't really know where to park or how to navigate all the one way streets. I ended up parking a quarter mile away off the side of the road, not realizing there was a parking lot right by the shooting location. 

I got out of my car, grabbed all my gear, and was so excited, the lack of sleep hardly effected me. I Made the short hike over in the dark, and was surprised to see people already set up. Then I thought to myself, "well, it's Yosemite." With the little light coming through, it seemed like we were going to get a good amount of color. I found a spot along the river, set up my tripod and waited for the sun to rise. Then as the sun rose, I couldn't belive the show we got, pinks, yellows, and oranges, the fall color, the reflection off the water, I could not believe my good fortune. Whenever I go out for sunrise photos, I almost never get it on the first try. The whole time I was driving here, setting up and waiting, I kept saying to myself, "I really hope I didn't wake up at 2am in vain." And sure enough, my wish came true. My first and only time visiting Yosemite as a photographer was an absolute success, couldn't have asked or dreamed of a better shot.