386 - Cook’s Meadow
Toadie's shoot is at Cook's Meadow in Yosemite. Did I really just type toadie? Ok fuck it I'm keeping that in.
We'd only ever seen pictures before, and it was this beautiful meadow in Yosemite Valley featuring wavy grass, boardwalks, epic granite walls, and for the main feature- a waterfall. It was simply iconic.
Fun fact, the word "iconic" got added to my dictionary from some girl I dated for about two weeks after meeting in a dive bar. I'd never heard it before, it was her favorite word, and ever since then it's been stuck in my head.
Except there was no waterfall when we showed up to photograph Cook's Meadow. What...?
Well upon doing a little research, we realized that Yosemite only has working waterfalls during the Spring... Fuck. Maybe as a California native that's common knowledge, but to a Colorado baby like me it was news.
And just like that my excitement about the location went out like a light. From "HOLY SHIT this is gonna be epic," to "Let's go somewhere else, ASAP." Isn't it crazy how that happens? Now I actually have to think critically at a location and I'm ready to bounce. Need to adjust that attitude a bit...
But not yet.
I was still attached to that boardwalk waterfall photo. Badly. I wanted it. I NEEDED IT. So I did my best to replicate it without a waterfall. Here's what I came up with....
Not bad, eh? The boardwalk makes the leading line a piece of cheese. But it still didn't feel right. I wasn't stepping up to the challenge. I needed to find my own path here. I felt like Rocky stepping up to box.
So... I accepted it. We're gonna send it. You're a pro photographer, right? We'll let's see what you got, dawg.
I took a moment to embrace the scene. What did I like about it? Well... I liked the loooong grass. It was blowing in the wind so casually, almost like a giant blanket.
What else? Oh, the backdrop of the massive granite. A classic of Yosemite. So smooth, milky, and iconic...
Well, 1+1=2 right? Let's combine em'.
Here's what I ended up with, after about 6 focus stacked images:
And... this photo took me awhile to appreciate in the editing room. It felt almost too basic to me, but I knew there was SOMETHING in it. It's almost like I loved the grass way more than the backdrop. I went for walk to take a break from editing, and came to a realization.
The hardest part about editing photos featuring heavy smoke is learning to embrace the smoke. There's no way to make it disappear, there's no way to "edit it out," it's there to stay. The quicker I learned this lesson, the quicker I'd reach satisfaction. (It was smoky in Yosemite because of wildfires. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned that.)
When I got back to editing the photo, I embraced the red/orange tones that dominated the scene, and let that parooze into the sky. Smoke needs softness, flow, and intensity.
And I'm pretty proud of that image. Complete attitude shift from the start to finish of this shoot, and the start/finish of the editing process. I feel like that happens a lot. Always doubt my abilities then pull through at the last second.
On the way out, we ran across one more gem. Now, being from Colorado, I'm not too impressed with frickin' deer. But we ran into one of the way out that's horns just cracked me up. They almost looked too big for it's body! I got low, strapped on the 70-200mm 2.8, got some foreground, and snapped:
“7 Points to Gryffindor”
Sony a7rIII + Sony 70-200mm 2.8 GM
ISO 400 ~ 17mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/200s
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Nice to shoot some wildlife every once in awhile. I don't think I have the patience to HUNT for those photos, but if they come to me I'm down. I guess that makes me a lazy wildlife photographer? Still a wildlife photographer tho ;).
Anyhoo, solid shoot today.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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