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I recently had the pleasure of visiting Yosemite to take part in a small photography workshop and had a great time, meeting many people and (of course) seeing amazing sights.  Dave Wyman and Ken Rockwell were the hosts, providing instruction and locations over a 3 day period.  This was my first “official” workshop, having done many photowalks – both organized and not – over the last few years.

I flew to SFO and then drove a rented Ford Escape for the 4.5 hour journey to Yosemite. Trip there was easy enough, although I didn’t get into the park until dark and there was a fair amount of roadwork going on which confused the GPS. I Eventually found Yosemite Lodge, though, and was able to bump into Dave to find out where to meet & when, etc. for the next day.

Day 1 began at 7:30am at Curry Village and was a busy day, heading first to Stoneman Meadow (views of Half Dome and more), a nearby creek and bridges (beautiful reflections in the calm of early morning) before heading out to the Girls Club and Ansel Adams Gallery.  Ken gave a good talk on the fundamentals of shooting landscape photography, going over exposure, color balance, lighting and more.  Ken is an excellent speaker and teacher, with the most important message being “just get out and shoot”.

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After Ken’s talk, we headed to the Ansel Adams Gallery and the nearby cemetary, taking numerous pictures along the way.  It was great to mingle with the crowd and compare shots, angles, etc. to see how everyone approached their photography.

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The afternoon was spent at El Capitan Meadow, Valley View, Tunnel View, Fern Springs (Yosemite’s smallest waterfall – OK Dave that’s reaching…;)) and the Bridalveil Falls parking lot to see the rainbow that Dave promised, which did show up even though the water was sparse.  We ended the day at the Yosemite Chapel, running a road block and meeting a family of deer to boot.  A bunch of us headed back to Curry Village for pizza and beverages (beer for Dave & I, chocolate milk for Ken).

Day 2 was, for the most part, about driving and finding gas… OK not really but it felt that way.  We started the day heading down to the Merced River for some early morning reflections of Half Dome in the water, and began a slow hike looping around to the Supervisor’s Cabin.  Lots of great views along the way.  After breakfast we headed out to the Foresta Barns, a brief drive outside the park.  Afterwards we continued to drive to Mariposa and the giant Sequoias – right about here is where our car (myself and 3 others) decided gas was a priority, especially since the gas station at our meeting place was closed for renovations.  No problem, an hour out of the way to Oakhurst and we made it back to the Sequoias in time to meet up with everyone else.  Good thing I filled up, too, because after the trees we headed up to Glacier Point, about a 20 mile drive from the Park entrance.  This was the highlight of the day for me, as it (and Washburn Point just before it) offered amazing views of the valley and a straight-on look at Half Dome.  Worth the drive, to say the least.  The day ended with a nice dinner with new friends from California and a late night of viewing pics in Lightroom.

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Day 3, the last day (already?) was only scheduled for the morning, but we did manage to see a lot.  We met at the Ahwahnee Hotel for breakfast (the “ritzy” place of Yosemite) and then wandered around the area for new photo ops.  A few of us walked back to the Lodge (at least 3km, I’d say) and met up there for final goodbyes and exchanges of info.  I gave out a few Moo cards to people, I hope they manage to get to my site and read this ;).

As my flight was booked for the next day, I went back to my room for a few hours to relax and then met up with Jay and his wife, plus a very nice couple from Florida (OK guys I need spelling on your names….) for dinner.  Called it a night fairly early to get up at 6 to start heading back to SFO and home.  Long drive but nice weather, then a 3 hour+ wait at the airport for a delayed flight back home.

I have finally managed to upload images to Flickr and Smugmug, so please have a look and leave any comments or questions.  I hope to do more of these in the future.  Thanks again to Dave & Ken – next stop Vancouver, OK guys…? 

PS I have created a group on Flickr called “Autumn Light In Yosemite 2008” for anyone that is on Flickr to post their pictures to.  To use it, join the group (an option on this page) and then upload your pictures as normal.  Select one of your pictures that you would like to submit to the group and select “Send To Group” in your toolbar on the Flickr Page and choose the “Autumn Light in Yosemite 2008” group.  Optionally, you can also add the tag “AutumnLightInYosemite2008” as another way of pooling all of these shots together.  Searching for that phrase (no spaces) will return all pictures in Flickr with that tag. E-mail or leave me a comment here if you have any questions at all.