Too many people!

This is from Monday the 14th. Right before sunset 5 buses, with mostly 10-14 year-olds, showed up at Tunnel View. The crowd stretched pretty far beyond the edges of this frame. Of course the edge was the perfect place to have a snowball fight! One photog was using a big super-telephoto; a couple girls ran into her, and the gear nearly went over the edge.

I hate to sound like a grumpy old man -- I'm not old, just grumpy! I like to think of Yosemite Valley as kind of a grand bargain. NPS lets the masses run wild in the Valley, then keeps the backcountry open for those of us who actually want to experience real wilderness. But this is pretty ridiculous. I wish they would enforce some kind of maximum number of buses at Tunnel View at a time.

Rant over...

Shoot, not bad for a Monday. Try artist's point it's pretty much the same view but you have to walk to it, you grumpy old man. It's ok to have kids play hide and go seek under your tripod.

5 tour buses is my record at Tunnel View. I keep hoping to be there for 6 or 7 buses, but I have not had any luck so far. Most of the bus passengers pile out, take a quick snapshot of the group with their cell phone and get back on the bus. They never even look at the scenery other than to compose the group shot. It is both funny and sad.

Wow,

That is rediculous! It brings back bad memories of living in LA County and going skiing at Mtn. High with 6 inches of snow and too few runs open. Yeah, I'll second artists point. I was there over a similar weekend with and saw no one until my way back down. But gators were important as I was post holing up to my knees in fresh snow.

Derek

This photo really depicts the crowds quite well. In recent years I've only visited tunnel view during the winter and encounter hordes of people...knowing the difference in the number of visitors between seasons it makes me wonder how much more crowded this scene would be during the summer

Yep, and no doubt swarms on the way from the last count...I'm not grumpy, just old and cranky..

Steve Sieren wrote: ""It's ok to have kids play hide and go seek under your tripod."

I sure hope Steve was joking!! I have a problem with parents who don't control their kids - however, I don't want to get into the whole "old school" thing - I'm VERY old school!

As far as Mat Malone's comments about the crowds at Tunnel View are concerned, I agree. The ice there can be very slippery and the folks getting off the buses don't always respect that fact. I would think that enforcing a certain decorum would make the experience more enjoyable for all.

Mike Stolting

My take on crowds is. Photograph as much as you can of our beautiful world, because, and I hate to say this, crowds at these beautiful sites will be in great numbers and an eyesore, as much as windmills, and other garbage, obstructing the oportunities for documenting with awesome photographs for future generations to view. Recently I drove many miles to a reclusive beach(it once was) for a photography session. I couldn't get just one photograph of the beach and ocean without a person walking through my view or laying out like lizzards all along the beach. Guess this makes me a grumpy old woman.

Get used to it, people. Population is extremely out of control, and foreign tourism is always high. Besides, the National Parks belong to ALL Americans, and we all have equal rights to be there. Some just seem more equal than others.

Signed, another aging, grumpy old fart.

Oh, And for an even larger croud try Horsetail Falls in February. I think I'll skip that one this year.

Derek

Back in October, a friend and I visited Bodie State Park one Saturday afternoon. I was amazed at the sheer number of photographers that had staked out various locations within the park. With their tripods, SLR cameras and enormous camera bags, there were an eye-sore. The worst part was that they would make a big fuss if you happened to cross their path, although they were not making any pictures - just waiting for the so-called perfect light. The scene at Mono Lake South Tufa was even more ridiculous.

It always amuses me to find that photographers somehow feel like they have an exclusive right to such (popular) places.

What bothers me is when one set of people think they can do something that interferes with everybody else's enjoyment. A bus full of rowdy kids is one example. A nazi photog is another. Or someone blaring loud music from their car in the parking lot (hasn't happened to me at TV but I'm sure it's not uncommon).

I haven't ever been yelled at by another photographer, but I can at least understand it. You put all this time into traveling to locations, waiting for the right conditions. Of course you want to make sure everything goes as well as it can in the field. But that doesn't give you the right to be an ass.

Mat, I can surely empathize with your observations and encounters. I'm sure most of us have had a few, at my age, the list gets a bit lengthy. I typically avoid the crowds and ultimate confrontations, unless I was there first and pushed into making an issue.
My all time favorite was at the Snake River Overlook at GTNP. I've been to the park numerous times, but only shot the SRO a few times at dawn. As a result of the last outing there I pass on that exact location now. There were at least 4 of us just over the wall in a tight spot waiting for sunrise. When all of a sudden as time was drawing near and everyone taking aim, some wing-nut climbs over the wall with $50k worth of gear hanging around his neck, slips and takes two other photogs already setup in front of me sliding down the hill with him in tow. After the dust cleared enough from the falling debris, I ripped off a couple shots and climbed back over the wall.
Yep, they're out there folks.....

I'm headed to Yosemite tomorrow to spend Christmas with my wife (she works in the park). I avoid crowds, especially if there's a chance of some kind of accident. Shooting 4x5, and having to be under the darkcloth makes it nearly impossible to know what's going on around me, so I choose locations and/or times when crowds are minimized.

Maybe I should attach a sign to my darkcloth: "Grumpy Old Photographer On Board! Approach With Caution!":wink" Or, better yest, take my wife under the darkcloth with me and hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign from it.

"I would think that enforcing a certain decorum would make the experience more enjoyable for all."

Unfortunately, enforcing even a modicum of decorum is sort of like herding cats. I think what is badly needed is for people to be aware of their situation and how their actions affect others.

--P

Mike, Yes, I was joking. The subway, Monument Valley Parking lot, Dunes at Stovepipe, Mesa Arch, and that bridge over the Merced overlooking Half Dome all the same. It's hard enough dealing with too many photogs but with crowds too, that's just too much.

Sometimes you wish it would hail softballs for two minutes while you're wearing a hard hat That would clear things up.

Get this, On a recent trip to Cades Cove We were amazed at the number of tour buses driving through on these tiny winding roads through the mountain. You know how noisy they are and they were steadily bellowing black smoke out their rear end. I knew after that there wasn't going to be much wild life hanging around to photograph. Luckily we got there before daybreak and was able to photograph turkey and deer as well as other wild animals. But then I guess that folks on tour buses have their rights too. That's why I said, get out and photograph everything you can, because soon you want be able to.Our bountiful population explosion will soon trample and destroy anything worth photographing, and then the selling price of our photographs will skyrocket. I always try to look on the bright side.

Yeah, it can be rediculous sometimes. I'm pretty grumpy too, so I've been told!!!! But Mat, if you would like to be yelled at by another photographer, just walk through one of Harley's comps sometime. He, and Jimmy were staked out on the west side of Cook Meadow, and I was on the opposite side. We were all shooting The Elm, but from different directions. Someone wandered out into the meadow, almost under the tree Well, the next thing I heard from a couple hundred yards away was Harley, "Hey! Get outta there"!!!!! We had a laugh about it later.

Chris

I was at this location many years ago with a fellow photog friend, both of us had our 4x5's set up, no one else around. Then...3 bus loads of Asian tourists arrived, everyone of them had a point and shoot camera, and they all wanted to take a snap shot of the same view we had set up. Had a great time with the group, shot a couple of Polaroids of the scene and handed them out, some broken English conversation about photography and lots of pics of my friend and I with the group; I'm 6'7" and my friend is rather large so we were heads and shoulders taller than our Oriental friends. We ran into them at a couple of other stops in the Valley too, fun time.

Matt,
Seems like its always like that. TV is hard, because its best at sunset, so EVERYONE can show up at the right time... but if you want an iconic location, its hard to beat. Sad, but the best plan is to show up hours in advance and camp on your tripod location... Best Regards.

Things haven't changed much. This same scenario happened to the native Indians, but then the people didn't just pick up and leave after the sun had set.

This is a perfect example of the naturalist movement working well... too well for many. Appreciation of our natural world is what many of us here like to convey in our photography and its great to see others wanting to appreciate it for themselves. It is unfortunate when management of locations such as this are lacking. When they expanded this area the writing was on the wall. For locations such as this if I'm serious about getting a solid photograph I'll do my best to visit during low traffic times (if possible).

One should note though there are other locations near by that you can get a similar view without dealing with the crowd bumping into your gear. A little exploring will help you carve out your own oasis of this view.

Interesting thread here Matt, go ahead and rant, maybe rave a little too, but I'm sure we were all there before the NPS cut down all those damn trees obscuring the views, and you can bet your bottom dollar it wasn't a few photographers that got this project onto their radar screen, it was the tour buses, how many people a tour bus do you think 50? everyone of those aluminum lungs ( iron lung analogy ) passing into the park is cha-ching another $500 hundred dollars into the NPS bank. If that's 200 a day then thats what a 100 grand. Besides the tour buses clear out in less than 15 mins and maybe I'm just a lucky cuss i've never have a problem with em. One more point two nice photographers who may even be part of this group turned me on to NPN.while a tour bus was ubnloading another cargo a gawking sardines. I'm more afraid of them turning the valley into to tour only where you can't personally drive into the park. That scares the crap out of me. Any of the format guys want to put their equipment on a a tour bus to get into the valley? Talk about a nightmare sorry Matt your image pales in comparison.

Paul