This past weekend I was up in Yosemite for the opportunity to capture the once a year ‘Fire Fall’ affect that happens at sunset on Horsetail Falls. For about two weeks a year, weather permitting, the sunset lines up perfectly to illuminate Horsetail Falls on the eastern side of El Capitan. As the sun sets, a shadow is cast along the side of El Cap until just a sliver of light is left to illuminate Horsetail Falls.
Yosemite's El Capitan and Horsetail Falls catching the last light of sunset
Positioning oneself at the right angle, that sliver of light turns the water fall into a nature made Fire Falls, where the water seems like it’s on fire. While there are a number of days each February where the earth/sun alignment is right to create this affect (it happens in the fall as well, but the water fall typically only exists in the winter/spring) you are always at the whim of mother nature and if she’ll grant you clear skies. The amount of recent precipitation and temperatures are also a factor in how much water is flowing over the falls, more water means more dramatice effect.
This year, we are lucky to have a streak of perfect weather with clear evening skies. From other photographers I talked to up in Yosemite it was perfect conditions Friday as well as Saturday and Sunday with this Thursday being the ideal angle of the sunset. One photographer even said that this was the best he had seen in the past twelve years of coming up in February.
Close up of Yosemite's Horsetail Falls catching the last light of sunset
Most photographs I have seen of this lighting of Horsetail Falls tend to focus tightly on just the falls. The downside of this is that most people don’t have a good idea of what they are looking at. With this in mind, I made sure to capture both close up as well as wider photos to give the full affect. I also shot some video on Sunday and plan on having a Sunday Morning Short of Horsetail Falls soon.
(Click through on the photos to view larger versions as well as to purchase images…)
This is a beauty, Greg. Something I will have to see one of these years… You know the last time I was in the valley was on a day that could have had the firefall (feb. 28) but I forgot and was shooting Half Dome instead.
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This is beautiful! You picked great spots to shoot from. Thank you for sharing your experience and photos!
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Hi Greg,
It’s Ramsey from Saturday the 13th…your shots are lookin’ good.
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latoga Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Thanks Ramsey. Hope that your exposures turned out as well.
Since you’re still devoted to the art of film, you should also check out a new film specific blog that I recently heard about, FeelingNegative?
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Sweet shot Glato!
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latoga Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Thanks Dave. Check back in a few days for an even sweeter time lapsed video…
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Curious as to where the best spot is to photo it from. I’ve seen most from somewhere in the valley but a few from the rim as well.
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latoga Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Paul,
Been meaning to do a post on this topic specifically but just been slammed with other work since my trip. I setup across the valley from the falls. The key places tend to be the El Capitan Picnic area on the north side of the valley (much steeper angle) and the parking area along the south side drive before the Sentinel Beach picnic area.
After talking to other photographers over the weekend I was there, we all thought there should be a unseen photo angle from upon the south side ridge, like from Taft Point. The problem is getting there with all the snow that time of year–you’re probably talking snowshoes/skis and snow camping overnight!
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[...] my recent trip to Yosemite to photograph Horsetail Falls I setup to take some video of the sunset on the falls [...]
[...] to age, comes the above unique view of Yosemite’s Horsetail Falls Firefall. Taken during my trip last February, I rediscovered this photo today while working on my year end Favorite Photos of 2010 blog [...]