"Pacific Dogwoods" Location: Yosemite National Park, California. Pacific dogwoods are unique flowers which bloom once a year in a spectacular displace at Yosemite National Park. It is always fun a challenge to capture the display when leaves are still young and flowers are at their best. The bloom of these flowers is truly an ephemeral event. They bloom at the start of the summer season during mid to late May time-frame and are photographically at their best for maybe two weeks. Tech Info: Camera: Canon EOS 30D Lens: Canon EF 70-200 f/4L IS @ 70mm Exposure: 1/800sec at f/4 and ISO 320 Filters: No filters Yosemite is the arguably the most beautiful national park. It's grandeur and the time scale it took to evolve is very humbling. I learnt that the granite peaks started out as molten magma deep below the earth's surface about 100 million years ago. Merced river then carved it into a "V" shaped valley and finally glaciers shaped it into its present day "U" shape. The beauty of the valley has inspired many. It's lush forests, tall granite peaks, amazing monoliths and beautiful waterfalls are so pristine that a visit to the park often overwhelms the senses. A visit here at least once in lifetime is a must.
Location: Central Valley of California aka San Joaquin Valley. Here is a view of Almond orchards from the Central Valley of California. This part of California is one of the most fertile areas in the world producing large quantities of almonds, peaches, nectarines and other fruits and nuts which get supplied all over the world. I drive through Central Valley on my way to Yosemite and find the views very appealing. the arrangement and sheer expanse of these orchards is something to see in person. Weather it's winter, which is when I shot this image, or spring the views of these orchards is phenomenal. Tech Info: Lens: Canon EF 70-200 f/4L IS @ 121mm Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II Exposure: 1/4sec at f/22 and ISO 200 Filters: No filters Post Processing: White balance and green hue/saturation adjustment Yosemite is the arguably the most beautiful national park. It's grandeur and the time scale it took to evolve is very humbling. I learnt that the granite peaks started out as molten magma deep below the earth's surface about 100 million years ago. Merced river then carved it into a "V" shaped valley and finally glaciers shaped it into its present day "U" shape. The beauty of the valley has inspired many. It's lush forests, tall granite peaks, amazing monoliths and beautiful waterfalls are so pristine that a visit to the park often overwhelms the senses. A visit here at least once in lifetime is a must.
"Giant Cathedral Rocks" Location: Yosemite National Park, California. One of the experiences of Yosemite National Park that I like to capture is how it feel to stand in awe of these giant granite peaks rising abruptly and almost vertically from the ground. These are giant cathedral rocks in the morning light after a light dusting of snow the previous night. Tech Info: Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L @ 25mm Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk II Exposure: 0.3sec at f/16 and ISO 50 Filters: LEE 0.9 (3-stop) soft edge graduated ND filter and LEE .75 hard edge upside down to control overexposure of the snow on the foreground. Post Processing: The most important step in this image was the lens distortion correction using PhotoShop CS4. Without this correction the peaks won't appear vertical enough. Yosemite is the arguably the most beautiful national park. It's grandeur and the time scale it took to evolve is very humbling. I learnt that the granite peaks started out as molten magma deep below the earth's surface about 100 million years ago. Merced river then carved it into a "V" shaped valley and finally glaciers shaped it into its present day "U" shape. The beauty of the valley has inspired many. It's lush forests, tall granite peaks, amazing monoliths and beautiful waterfalls are so pristine that a visit to the park often overwhelms the senses. A visit here at least once in lifetime is a must.
