A Spring Dance

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 31, 2010295 views28 comments

A dance with the first rays of morning sun. Upper Yosemite falls, while still in shadow, has some of it's fall venture out far enough from the cliff face to touch some of the rays of sunlight creeping across the wall. I had envisioned this, and made a scouting hike up to this spot a couple of days before. I didn't think I would have the motivation to do it again early enough to beat the sun. But I did in the end. This was very spectacular to watch in person. I hope I have conveyed some of the magic of the occurance with this image. For a sense of scale, this is probably about 4 or 5 hundred feet of the falls here, maybe more! A large version is included as well. Thank you for your thoughts.

D200,
18-70mm,
1/100sec, F/11,
Thanks,
Chris

Comments

28 comments

Comment posted by Jeremy Cram on May 31, 2010 at 11:38 PM

The scale is amazing. It just looks so much smaller, and the lighting....beautiful work.

Registered on June 4, 2006, 204 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Anthony Vincent on May 31, 2010 at 11:43 PM

This is probably pretty impressive in person and I can't imagine the sounds here. Great job at scaling down a mammoth fall and minimizing it's artistic side.
Nice job

Registered on February 5, 2009, 199 Posts, 2775 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on May 31, 2010 at 11:59 PM

Jeremy,
I'm guessing here about the size of the area shown. But the upper falls drops 1400plus feet. I figure I am showing about a little less than half here!

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on June 1, 2010 at 12:16 AM

The detail of the larger version surpassed my expectations. A real treat. The slight tones of the water holds my interest as well as the subtle dark recesses and structure of the stained granite. Man...love to have done the kind of detail to blow up to an immense wall covering. Like some of Ansel's old six and eight foot tall displays in Best Studio ...back in the old days.

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on June 1, 2010 at 1:23 AM

Amazing! This could easily be a boring shot...but the conditions and water capture really makes this one special... I'd surely call this image magical.

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Benjamin Glatt on June 1, 2010 at 1:48 AM

Nice shot dude! Love the chosen shutter and the comp.

Registered on July 15, 2007, 171 Posts, 3566 Comments

Comment posted by Bruno Silva on June 1, 2010 at 6:19 AM

this is very nice, chris! the larger version blows me away, lots to apreciate in it! this must have been quite impressive being there. great capture!!!

Registered on May 6, 2009, 132 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Wegemann on June 1, 2010 at 8:35 AM

Your comp and choice of shutter speed has turned this into one of the finest falls shots I've seen. This image just comes alive. I want to call this an abstract, but I don't know if that quite fits.
Incredible work, Chris!!!

Registered on December 14, 2006, 58 Posts, 1888 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on June 1, 2010 at 8:48 AM

The great lighting really makes this come alive. The water almost looks like smoke rising.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on June 1, 2010 at 10:35 AM

Beautiful combo of curves and crashing water. Excellent!!

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Mat Malone on June 1, 2010 at 12:10 PM

Beautiful, Chris. I love how the spray at the bottom cups the falling water. But the mix of soft and direct light is what really makes this work.

Actually at first I was thinking that it would be nice to have some trees in there to show a sense of scale. But then here, without the trees, you actually add a nice sense of mystery, forcing the viewer to try and figure out how big the scale is.

Registered on December 15, 2008, 91 Posts, 882 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on June 1, 2010 at 12:46 PM

Nicely done, Chris. The light is wonderful. I can only imagine the sound.

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on June 1, 2010 at 1:01 PM

A wild and powerful water spirit, Chris, very nice.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 1, 2010 at 1:43 PM

Fantastic Chris!!! Certainly well rewarded for your double climb up the falls trail. Great job scouting, visualizing and then executing this capture of Yosemite Falls. The light is subtle but absolutely beautiful on the flying water. Awesome!

Not nits, but something to consider. How about going straight b&w here? I see a hint of blue in the falls - at least it looks blue to me. Maybe it's just the tone and lighting? Also, you could paint in some contrast around the bottom of the falls for some extra drama. (like this needs more?)

You've been coming home with some killer work from Yosemite! Any more?

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on June 1, 2010 at 2:07 PM

Simple and beautifully portrayed. Real nice work Chris.

Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on June 1, 2010 at 2:53 PM

Very nicely composed Chris, you nailed the exposure.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on June 1, 2010 at 4:12 PM

I really like this Chris. Very dynamic and also very painterly. Excellent work.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Wade Hardy on June 1, 2010 at 4:19 PM

Fantastic, powerful, and dynamic. I never would have guessed this was 400 or 500 feet of the falls.

Registered on May 2, 2006, 121 Posts, 1824 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on June 1, 2010 at 5:30 PM

Fabulous shot, Chris. You nailed the composition and shutter speed and created something wonderful.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on June 1, 2010 at 8:42 PM

There is something special about viewing the power and elegance of a waterfall Chris at this close range. I think you captured its essence very well here especially in early morning light. Beautiful work and I just love it! We visited Yosemite once in 1992 with 2 small kids in tow (not a lot of time for for photography but I did some none the less). This image really makes me want to get back there now that I am seriously back into photography full force again, now that the kids are grown (but they can still come along for the ride which I think they would both enjoy).

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 1, 2010 at 9:42 PM

The textures here are just amazing. Still can't quite imagine this is upper Yosemite falls for some reason. It feels very intimate and ephemeral compared to what I'm used to seeing.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Gabi Lach on June 1, 2010 at 10:00 PM

Very powerful and dynamic photo. Great stuff, Chris.

Registered on May 1, 2007, 101 Posts, 3187 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on June 1, 2010 at 10:03 PM

Tony,
Thanks, that's exactly what I was hoping for. I didn't know for sure if I could pull off the intimate feeling with a 1400 foot waterfall. But I gave it a shot. I'm glad the feeling is coming across.

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on June 2, 2010 at 1:04 AM

Wow Chris, this is stunning. Very beautiful, even "artsy". One of your best images!

Registered on January 26, 2007, 360 Posts, 9876 Comments

Comment posted by Danny Laureys on June 2, 2010 at 1:02 PM

Beuatiful !!! Perfect shutter speed. Like the colors

Registered on January 5, 2008, 590 Posts, 1261 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on June 2, 2010 at 7:46 PM

That's a marvelous comp and the shutter speed works very well here. The light and patterns captured make for a magical moment.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by INGOMA on June 3, 2010 at 12:22 PM

Better late than never for me to comment! I love this image. There are so many things that come together here - textures, color palette, shapes, light and shadow - absolutely gorgeous.

Registered on July 2, 2004, 231 Posts, 3110 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on June 4, 2010 at 2:07 AM

Wow powerful. I usually don't like "hard" water, but this is just right as is!

mark

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments