Yosemite high country locations

Hi folks,

I'm trying to decide on some locations for a sunset shoot in Yosemite's high country...I've narrowed my choices down to the Young Lakes region to shoot Mt. Conness, or upper cathedral lake to shoot Cathedral peak. Any opinions on these choices? Does anyone know if there is any snow left currently on the high peaks? If Mt. Conness is pretty bald without snow on it right now, I might settle on shooting cathedral peak. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Both locations take in a west-side view of the peaks, and both are pure white granite. I wouldn't count on finding snow on either. Both are best at sunset due to their orientation. Cathedral Lakes is an easy dayhike, so you could potentially walk out after sunset. Young Lakes is considerably greater in distance; I would recommend backpacking for a sunset shoot here. Best of luck.

In order to work such images, since the sun is continually changing its horizon location of rise and set, a photographer needs to become familiar with sunrise and sunset azimuth, altitude, time data as per the USNO astronomical info. Additionally one needs to study USGS topographic maps for what is viewable given such sunrise and sunset info. The 100k scale maps are most useful for understanding blocking terrain while the 7.5 minute provide small scale info at camera points.

For instance, one will never see sunrise alpenglow on Cathedral Peak because the Sierra Crest in the Tioga Pass - Mount Dana area is considerably higher blocking early light on the Cathedral Range. Likewise during the current solstice period, because the sun rises at about 60 degrees azimuth or 30 degrees north of due east, the classic views of Cathedral Peak from the Cathedral Lakes (from west and southwest) do not receive the strong reflected sunset light from 30 degrees north of due west or 300 degrees azimuth. However in late October when the sun sets south of due west they do receive strong perpendicular reflected light at sunset.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Gallery_B/06-GG2-2T.jpg

Hi David,

thanks for the advice. I am quite familiar with azimuths, and never plan a trip without looking up the azimuth positions of the sun (and moon too, for night shots) using Q.T. Luong's invaluable sun-moon position calculator. What is a little harder for me to do is survey the landscape digitally using Google Earth and guesstimating all the positions and orientations of a peak-strewn landcape like the Yosemite high country. I had suspected that cathedral peak, at least to get a more front-lit reflection in the upper cathedral lake, would require the sun to be at about 270 degrees azimuth at sunset - that meant October. I have seen summer shots of this peak, and sure enough, it's pretty much side-lit from the upper cathedral lake perspective. Lower cathedral lake's perspective is better for a more front-lit situation, but the peak itself obviously is oriented differently in this case. I had the same issue determining if Liberty Cap would see much the sunset rays directly, since its altitude is about the same as the "diving board" off of Half Dome which is obliquely across it in the path of a ~330 azimuth sun.

Fine. All you need to do is change from Google Earth that would obviously be awkward to actual topographic maps. You can of course do that online at a number of web locations so one does not need to use actual paper maps although doing so would be much easier. The below link shows that area at a scale you ought to easily be able to determine what does and what does not block a given point on the map. All you need is a ruler and a protractor. One thing becomes obvious with Cathedral Peak when looking at elevation lines to the west. The ridge containing Mount Hoffman and Tuolumne Peak blocks the sunset of all but the top of the peak during much of the summer.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=36.60523,-118.73714&z=15&t=T

It can be a bit more complicated because the Earth is not flat but round. So as high points east or west are further away, they increasingly block a rising or setting sun. I've addressed calculating line of sight on the Earth on my below website. From my homepage, top right, select the:

Tips, Tools, Information Page

Then on that page select the following sub-page link:

Visual Line of Sight Calculations dependent on Earth's Curvature

That acme site seems better that the other one I knew about:

http://www.topozone.com

Which now seems to be owned by trails.com who charge money to see usefull maps.

No offense intended, but I'd suggest NOT charting and over analyzing this so much. Photography (and life!) is about the journey, not the destination.

Forget what the sun and moon are doing on these peaks and at what times of the year. There's plenty of images to be had out there, and you'll miss many of them if you're shooting from a spreadsheet

Michael...I think you have the true landscape-lover's attitude. Sadly, for me, time is always at a premium, and to get the kind of shot I want in the minimal time I have, I need to "shoot from a spreadsheet" as you aptly put it . Whenever I've simply been spontaneous and simply wandered along a trail and not pre-visualized what I have wanted, the photographs that I came away with were not my best work. Especially because I don't even bother taking the camera out of the bag if the light is not really interesting. But to each his own...each photographer needs to do what works best for him/her.

The Young Lakes and the West Face of Mount Conness would get my vote if I had the time to hike in and take some time to scout around a bit and visualize. The West Face of Conness is very imposing, and really lights up in late afternoon/evening. You may also have the added benefit of nice clouds and sky color to the East of the crest at that time of day.

-PB

Kartik, Preston: here's what the west face of Conness looks like at sunset in July. Looks pretty beautiful to me!

Preston: when are we gonna head here together to get the mountains good tidings?

MG, there you go--making me homesick again! We don't call it the "Range of Light" for nuthin'! Darn, that's pretty!

-PB

Either location, or better yet both would not disappoint. Though I think I'm a bit partial to the Young Lakes area, especially the highest lake of the three. I agree with what MG said. Don't over analyze it. I like to scout out a location that I'm interested in for several days in advance to get an idea of lighting and wind patterns. If you can do a several day backpack trip, this could easily be achieved.

I'm sure there is still some snow fields left. Last weekend I was in little lakes valley and there was still quite a bit of snow left around 10.5k and higher. Not complete coverage but enough to keep things interesting. Upper Gem Lake still had siginifigant amount of ice in it. But I bet it's gone or just about gone now. Good luck and keep it fun!

If memory serves, it's about 7-8 mi hike to the upper YL. I forget what cathederal is, 5-6 mi?

One thing to keep in mind...Cathedral Lake is very popular. If you plan an over-night there, it may be difficult to get a permit. Young Lakes is much less visited, so it may be easier to get a permit. From a wilderness experience point of view, Young Lakes gets my vote.

-PB