145/365: The Yosemite Falls.

The four days in Yosemite were spent, as my buddy Pete said, much like tourists in NYC...necks crained back and mouths a bit agape. Agaze at the wide wonder, the joy we had found.  It's just all so big, and it's just right there in front of you. It's all you can do to wrap your mind around it, much less try to make a picture that you pray will do the scale any justice. The size and grandeur of the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls just takes your breath away. They looked amazing in real-time...and I'm not sure if the fast-shutter speed version isn't better...but I had to try the ND filter, the 10-stopper. Twenty-second exposure at f/7.1. The Glassenator. Lot of time for some subtle camera shake, even on the tripod, even from the mirror flipping up (didn't turn off Mirror Lockup, it's even on my custom immediate menu, call me lazy, but I did use a remote trigger to help keep 'er steady).

This photograph is so sharp it's kinda blowing my mind, actually. Didn't think the tripod was this solid, on grassy, muddy dirt even. The quality of the pixels at 100% is worth a look. (That's a big file, by the way, 8 mb or so, but click it again to zoom as it's loading and it should come up.) Lots of texture and detail. And a surprise in there.

-llg