A good friend and long time workshop participant Paul Sumi once related a story about an encounter he had with a photographer in Yosemite valley while he himself was shooting in a meadow. It seems this person didn’t understand why he would be photographing in this nondescript location when there were so many icons within eyesight.

The lesson here is quite obvious to some and it is also a small one literally. Yosemite valley is a treasure trove of opportunity both for the mind and photographically. “Look small to see big” is a phrase I’ve always put to good use. “Follow the light” is another!

The featured image today is an example of both! While making an image that we have done on every visit, I simply followed the direct light of this splendid cold morning. The reflected glow was warming part of the larger composition along the river. The shadows were rendered quite cold and consequently very blue on the color wheel prompting a quick switch to a warming filter. Careful not to diminish the reflection in the water with the polarizing effect of the filter I then used a graduated neutral density filter to hold the strong (+ 6 stops from the mid-tone reading of the bare foreground tree) in the top left of the frame. Again notice the snow is still rendered white even while stacking filters. A Sing-Ray Soft-Ray filter then completed the feel and effect I had in mind when first viewing this stunning show of light!

Canon 1Ds Mklll, Canon 24-70 2.8, Singh-Ray Warming Polarizer w/4ss Neutral Density Grad and Soft-Ray filters, Gitzo tripod