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yosemite
Dan and I travelled to the US with our friend Cuong and spent just under 2 weeks exploring the national parks and taking a plethora of photos! The only camera gear I brought with me was the Sony A7III, Sony 28mm f2 and the Canon 35mm f1.4 II + Metabones iv adaptor.
It was our second last day in Yosemite National Park when Dan and I spent the night in our trembling wooden cabin, shaking from the storm happening outside. The lights and internet would switch off momentarily before turning back on more times than I could count and the wind was howling loudly outside. Frustrated that we couldn't get in contact with our families to let them know how we were, we fell asleep only to wake up to a perfectly calm and sunny morning the next day. Walking outside to the balcony of our cabin was strange. The night was so noisy and yet this morning all was quiet and still - such a stark contrast to when I fell asleep. When I first noticed the light snow in the surrounding trees, we immediately got ready and headed out.
I think it was Yosemite's perfect way of saying goodbye. On our last day I finally got to see what I've wanted to see my whole life; the world drenched in winter. The further we drove up the same road we had driven the entire week, the thicker and thicker the snow on the ground and hanging on the tree branches was. I couldn't believe my eyes.
We stopped on the side of the road so many times to take photos of the snow covered trees and the pathways leading to nowhere. The Yosemite National Park entrance sign that was bare when we first arrived at the beginning of the week had piles of snow on and around it. We visited all our favourite spots one last time. Tunnel View, Lower Yosemite Falls, Valley View and places which I don't even think have a name.
It wasn't long after that where we headed off to spend one day in San Francisco before catching our flight that same night back home to Sydney.
all photos edited with my NEW Yosemite Lightroom Preset
I have never seen it snow before. I've been to the snow twice in Australia; once with my family when I was young and again on a road trip recently with Dan and my friends to the Victorian Alps where the landscape was covered in snow. But it never snowed while we were there.
Dan and I travelled from Hawaii to Yosemite National Park just after peak winter season. The days were cold, but not extremely. There were still patches of snow in the park but most of it had melted away. Towards the end of the week, the forecast said it was going to snow and I was so giddy with excitement every time I looked at it, I couldn't wait for that day to arrive. I giggled one afternoon while Dan and I were getting lunch at the two workers in the cafeteria having a chat in between small amounts of work left to do for the day. "Oh man, I got so mad when I saw the weather predictions this morning. I just want the snow to go away, I've had enough". Such a stark difference to my opinion. I've never seen it snow and can count the amount of times I've been in snow with one hand.
We had spent the morning in Yosemite Valley, wandering around, taking photos and going on a hike. By the afternoon we had finished everything we wanted to do, so we decided to go on a drive to the tree-house cabin we stayed at in the summer time in Yosemite West. The further we drove, the more of our surroundings were covered in snow. We rolled down the road slowly to approach two deer nibbling at the ground right on the side of the road with our windows down. Onwards, the snow still lingered in thick slabs on top of rooftops and verandas. Some driveways of what I'm assuming are holiday houses were still caved in with snow and the trees surrounding us were also decorated in white.
On our way back, we wanted to see the closed entrance Glacier Point Lookout road so we stopped at Badger Pass Ski Area, parked our car and went for a walk. It was too late in the afternoon to purchase an entry to go and ski, so we went for a walk around the area to admire the trees and the mountains of snow. In the distance I could see what looked like rain, but it was falling in the motion that a feather would. "Is it snowing over there?!" I wanted to go up the ski lift so badly, but we couldn't unless we hired ski equipment which it was too late to do. I started to get excited. Before I knew it, the storm clouds crept closer and the snow started to fall everywhere. At first it was small amounts and within minutes there was white everywhere I looked. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, holding my hands out to try and catch some snowflakes. Dan and I spent the next hour running around madly in the snow, taking pictures and filming. I laughed and breathed in deeply, knowing I will never forget this moment.
Finally with our hair and clothes drenched we went back into the warmth of the car and headed to our new accommodation, a cozy wooden cabin just outside of the park. Our time in Yosemite National Park was slowly coming to an end with only a handful of days left over before flying home.
I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
all photos edited with my NEW Yosemite Lightroom Preset
"The mountains are calling and I must go."
- John Muir
It was sunrise on the first day Dan and I woke up in our room in Yosemite National Park. The warm morning light streamed in through our b&b window, creating a little rainbow from the fractures of light. We couldn't contain our excitement to be back in this beautiful place, so we were out of our room and on the road heading to the park in record timing. Our idea behind coming to Yosemite National Park again was to be able to immerse ourselves in the landscape, to enjoy the quiet under the stars, to distract ourselves with landscape photography and just not be working for a minute. And that's exactly what we did.
Each morning we took the same road into the park, and every morning it looked like we were in a completely different landscape. One day it was warm and sunny, the next it was gloomy and cold, one day we woke up and the world was a winter wonderland. We embraced even the small things like our drives to and from destinations. On our first morning we set off on a hike to Mirror Lake again. Having visited this place in the summer it was a strange, nostalgic reminder being here again in winter. Where everything is the same, but all so different at the same time. I remember the ice cracking under our feet as we set off on the hike. Where there were leaves and branches the year before, now was a pile of snow still unmelted. When we got to the end of the hike, it was such a stark difference from the year ago we were there. In the summer, there is a sign pitched into the ground that states "mirror lake" but all you can see around it is tall grass and dirt pathways paved out by people who have gone looking for the lake. In winter this time, everything was glacial blue and magnificent. The water from Mirror Lake actually reached up to the sign they've pitched and was so still it really did look like a perfect mirror reflection of the trees and mountains surrounding the valley.
One afternoon, Dan and I were chasing the sunlight for photos and out of the shrubbery a few meters away from us, two white wolves stealthily jumped out, glanced at us and went about their way. It was terrifying but so wonderful to see these creatures up close. That same afternoon, the sun was still lingering in the sky, but had set already in Yosemite Valley. We decided to head to Yosemite Falls and when we arrived we had the whole place to ourselves without a single other soul around. I remember standing on one of the rocks just following the water crashing from the top to the bottom of the waterfall. Again, in the summer time the waterfall was there but it was such a small stream of water. Now in the winter, the water was powerful and loud.
That night we headed up to Tunnel View to take photos of the stars. We shivered in our coats as we waited for our 30 second exposures to finish, giggling at silly things we were talking about and constantly realising and appreciating where we were.
These are just a few snapshot memories of our time in Yosemite National Park. Below are so many photos I've taken of our time there. I still have more to come too!
all photos edited with my NEW Yosemite Lightroom Preset
We are so close.
It's one of our favourite places in the world.
Why don't we just go?
Dan and I had spent the morning watching the waves crash on the black sand beach on the Big Island in Hawaii. We were waiting at our gate to board our flight to Honolulu when we started talking about Yosemite National Park. We spent the rest of the time we had waiting at the airport and on our flight doing some research and trying to plan out our trip if we were to make it happen. With a smiles we couldn't wipe off our faces, my hands shaking and crazy eyes of "should we" we cancelled our flight back home.
[ AND SO WE WENT ]
Instead of catching an 8am flight the next morning to Sydney, we were boarding a 10pm flight that same night to San Francisco instead. I couldn't believe we were doing it and I couldn't believe how easy it was. One second I was ready to go home and the next I was just travelling further away. After a quick five hours on a plane, that made me feel sick from the turbulence - I squeezed Dan's hand so tightly almost the whole way there - we landed just before sunrise. We picked up our hire car and drove into the San Francisco sunrise, headed for snowy Yosemite National Park with a suitcase packed full of summer clothes. Our first day in San Fransisco was spent driving around the suburbs of Stanford shopping for winter clothes and boots.When we were ready for the snow, Dan drove towards Yosemite while I was on the phone calling a few different places to try and book our accommodation! Worst case scenario, we decided we could always sleep in the car. Luckily the third place I called picked up my call at 6pm and said they had a room available. The next morning we woke up at sunrise again out of excitement and set off on our drive to the park. This is our first couple of days spent exploring this magical place again.
I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
all photos edited with my NEW Yosemite Lightroom Preset
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I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
You can also see all the final photos from this trip in my Yosemite National Park post!
01. cascade creek falls | Situated on your way into Yosemite Valley to the left side of the road when you take the 120 or Big Oak Flat Road into the Valley. There are only a couple of car spaces available to pull over to walk to the bridge this waterfall is situated next to, which are quickly filled up in peak seasons like summer. So hopefully as you're driving past there aren't too many people pulled over already!
02. merced river from above | Also situated on Big Oak Flat Road as you head into Yosemite Valley, make a stop on the Pohono Bridge to see this impressive view of the Merced River from above. These two images were taken on a winter morning.
03. half dome | Get your first glimpses of the Half Dome amongst the rest of the landscape of Yosemite National Park. This spot in an unnamed viewpoint just off Big Oak Flat Road before Cascade Creek Falls, with a small space for you to pull over, stretch your legs and see the first of many amazing views to come.
04. tunnel view | This is the spot to get *the* shot of Yosemite. This is not a viewpoint literally in the tunnel right next to the carpark. We saw a lot of people walking on the tiny pathway inside the polluted tunnel to get to a viewpoint that isn't the right one (although you can get a view of the side of mountain from here)! Tunnel View is the view you see just a few steps from the carpark out in the fresh air. To get here, you need to drive to the east end of the Wawona Tunnel along the Wawona Road/Highway 41. From here you can see El Capitan and Bridal Veil Falls as well as Half Dome right in the background. The first image was taken in the summer, so the falls were quite small and were hard to see. The next two images were taken in the winter where the waterfalls were flowing, however there were plenty of low-hanging clouds and fog which made it hard to see the Half Dome at times.
05. valley view | Situated to the left side of the one-way Northside Drive on your way out of Yosemite Valley, just before the last bridge before seeing the signs to the highway. There is a little carpark that fits around 15-20 cars and is a few steps from the road. This is the view of the valley from the Merced River. The first picture is Valley View in the winter, the second image is in the summer.
06. yosemite falls | While Yosemite Valley, pull over and take a walk around Sentinel Meadow where you can see some amazing views and a different perspective of Yosemite Falls. Be sure to listen to the signs and stay on the marked paths to 'give plants a chance' to grow back again!
07. el capitan bridge | Located along the one-way Northside Drive on your way out of Yosemite Valley. There are plenty of spots to pull over by the bridge to see views of El Capitan and Cathedral Rocks.
08. cathedral rocks | Located along one-way Northside Drive and close by to El Capitan Bridge, El Capitan Meadow gives you impressive views of Cathedral Rocks as well as El Capitan itself. In the summer, we saw plenty of deer grazing in the meadows early in the morning and in the winter we caught glimpses of two wolves chasing after each other in the afternoon!
09. half dome sunset | Stop by Sentinel Bridge at sunset to see the last light linger on the Half Dome while being reflected in the Merced River. When the weather conditions are just right only the top of the Half Dome will be lit up in vivid colours.
10. glacier point | Located at the end of Glacier Point Road, about an hours drive out of Yosemite Valley. This is one of my favourite lookouts in Yosemite - you can see the Half Dome as well as many other mountains and you have clear views of Vernal and Nevada falls. If you use the binoculars at the viewpoint you can even see all the people that have hiked to the falls! I would recommend to get to this viewpoint early in the morning during peak seasons. Not only does it look amazing in the morning light, but once there are too many people they close access to Glacier Point Road until people leave to make more room. Access to this road is also closed during the Winter season, however you can make the 10 mile (one way) hike to Glacier Point or spend time at Badger Pass Ski Area (photo below).
While there are some amazing hikes you can do while in Yosemite National Park, I thought it would be a great idea to put together a blog post of all the landmarks and viewpoints you can see along the way that are super easy to get to. Whether you are only visiting for a short length of time or are looking for new perspectives to photograph the park, I hope this blog post has been helpful! What other viewpoints have you been to in Yosemite that you can recommend? I'd love to visit them on my next trip and add them to this list!
I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos, travel vlogs + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
In the morning of our last day in Yosemite, we decided to head to Glacier Point.
At the top. This lookout is situated at the end of Glacier Point Road, about an hour out of Yosemite Valley. Be sure to get here as early as possible! Once there are too many people at the lookout, access to Glacier Point Road closes until people start leaving to make room.
The two waterfalls we didn't have a chance to hike to this time, but we will see them the next.
On our flight from San Francisco to Gdansk, Poland.
Yosemite was a sweet ending to an amazing trip. Well, not so much an ending but a good way to say we'll see you next time, America!
all photos edited with my Disposable Film Lightroom Preset
Our tree house in the morning light.
First stop of the day was the Tunnel View lookout. This is the perfect place to get *that* Yosemite shot.
We stopped at a river while on the Cook's Meadow Trail to get some photos and noticed some deer grazing in the grass.
We couldn't get over the views you could see from pretty much anywhere in the park. I've never seen mountain/cliff formations like this before, and they would tower around you wherever you were.
This is THE spot that Sam and I wanted to go to more than anything. Yosemite Valley is a gorgeous lookout from the bottom of a river and all the shots that made us want to come to Yosemite National Park were taken from here.
Needless to say, we stuck around for quite a while taking a million photos.
Onwards we went to Yosemite Lower Falls. I've included more information about the hike at the bottom of this blog post!
Reading about these falls online and visiting them in person was a completely different experience to what I was expecting. I loved them, but I didn't realise there wasn't a hike involved at all to get there, so naturally it was (in my opinion) what looked like the most popular place for everyone to hang out. There were lots of people trying to escape the summer heat by swimming in the water! If I ever go in non-peak time I would love to hike to Upper Yosemite Falls!
We had fun scaling the unsuspecting slippery rocks to get as close as we could to the waterfall. We didn't get too close but enough to feel the cool mist on our hot skin. It was bliss!
A very friendly squirrel who came up to Dan and sniffed his camera.
Extra information on some of the trails we did:
Lower Yosemite Fall Trail
hike length: 1 miles
hike time: 20 minutes
difficulty: easy, the entire hike is a paved footpath
Cook's Meadow Loop
hike length: 1 mile
hike time: 30 minutes - there are quite a few spots to stop and take photos along the way!
difficulty: easy
other posts about hikes: Mirror Lake // Bridal Veil Falls
Since we were only in Yosemite National Park for a short couple of days, we wanted to see as much as possible so we picked the easier trails that took less time. I can't wait to come back next time and be able to spend time hiking to Vernal & Nevada Falls, as well as the Half Dome one day!
all photos edited with my lightroom preset Disposable Film | black and white photos edited with my lightroom preset Ghosts
After our last hike of the day, we had just enough time to go and see something else again. Of course Sam and I chose to go to our favourite spot in the park, Valley View to see it in the setting sun, and it was glorious.
Valley View is an easy viewpoint to get to, it's right next to the road with a little carpark when you're on your way out of Yosemite Valley. I don't know if we were just lucky, but we found it was quite empty (only a couple of other people there) while we were visiting in the morning and again in the afternoon.
This is one of those afternoons that I will remember forever. We each took turns scaling the rocks in the river to get to this tree log for a photo each. No one fell in the water, though we all had moments where it looked like we were about to!
Tunnel View was on the way back to our accommodation so we stopped here one more time, just before it got dark. We were the only ones there and it felt like we had the world to ourselves.
all photos edited with my Disposable Film Lightroom Preset
time of year: summer
hike length: 1.2 miles one way
total time: about 3 hours there and back, but we stopped a lot to take pictures
Mirror Lake was a great hike that I would do again in a heartbeat. You can either walk on the one mile paved trail that takes you straight to mirror lake or you can take the unpaved trail loop that we did. If you take the trail loop, you hike through so many different landscapes starting with hiking through a forest of giant sequoia trees, walking past many rivers with rushing water, giant stones that create caves and finally the lake itself that is surrounded by a huge meadow with the most beautiful mountain views and sprouting wildflowers. I love hiking in natural places, so taking the unpaved trail loop was a very easy decision for us.
The hike itself is fairly easy, moderate if you're not a regular adventurer. I would recommend to wear sturdy boots that you don't care too much to get dirty as there is no paved walkway and it was very muddy at times. We spent a lot of time walking on the rocks right next to the track instead of the muddy tracks that we could have slipped on!
Next time I would love to visit Mirror Lake in spring after the winter snow has melted and the lake is filled up. We went during the middle of summer while there were many hot days in a row and the lake was mostly dried up. That didn't get our hopes down though, with a little bit of camera trickery (hanging my arms over whatever water was left while I was taking a photo) I still got some photos I was super happy with of Mirror Lake reflecting the surrounding mountains. Here are the photos from our afternoon adventure.
We set off on the 1.2 mile hike to Mirror Lake.
My first photo stop was this river - I am obsessed with fresh water and natural rivers! I did get a big mosquito bite on my forehead while I was shooting around this river, so next time I might not want to forget the insect repellent..
A crystal clear blue lake.
Our first glimpses of the mountains surrounding Mirror Lake.
A friendly squirrel who came up to us for enough time to snap a few photos.
When we got to our destination we realised the lake was a bit uhhhh.. dry!
Taking a break from the summer heat in the soft grass.
Me ruining dan's hipster photos!
As we sat down for a few minutes, there was a little squirrel we were watching run up and down the metal grate. I caught him in this picture, can you find him?
Taking photos of wildflowers then noticing my friends in the distance waiting and watching me haha.
What was left of the lake - at least the whole thing didn't evaporate!
I found the furthest dry point near the lake to take this photo, my feet dangerously near the edge and me leaning over as far as I could to get a shot with just water.
A deer walking on the hiking path.
There was a storm predicted during our hike, but we were lucky to just get a few storm clouds roll over us and no storm.
The sun came back out to play eventually as we finished and headed back to go to our next hike.
all photos edited with my Disposable Film Lightroom Preset!
We only had a couple of days in Yosemite National Park so we didn't want to waste a single second. After our long drive there and a day of sight seeing, we caught a glimpse of the sunset through our window and we all jumped up and headed out the door to a cliff edge right by our house. We spent the rest of that time until dark sitting on the edge watching the sun go by, being in awe at how many beautiful trees we were surrounded by, pinching ourselves to know that we were really here.
all photos edited with my Disposable Film Lightroom Preset!
Yosemite National Park is a place that holds a special place in my heart. It was the last leg of our USA trip and probably the most beautiful.
We left our San Francisco Airbnb early in the morning and Dan & I took turns driving down the highway towards the National Park. The views along the way were wonderful, apple tree farms, endless country hills, winding roads up and down mountains. The moment we arrived at Yosemite National Park we were all in awe. We paid our entry ticket and as we started driving, we were surrounded by more and more Sequoia Trees until that’s all we could see. We all fell silent and stared out the window. I think in that moment it really sunk in where we were.
We made so many stops on the way to our accommodation, any viewpoint or waterfall that we drove past we stopped and eagerly jumped out of the car to take photos. We pulled over at Bridal Veil Falls and did the quick hike to see them. When we arrived at our accommodation just at sunset, one of Hayden’s friends arrived minutes after us and they went back on their way to Los Angeles. Dan, Sam and I spent the rest of the night figuring out what we’re going to do in the park over the next couple of days and taking pictures of the stars from our balcony.
We set off in the morning from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park.
The scary winding road leading into the park.
Pit stop for lunch where Hayden took my camera and snapped some photos.
We were already in awe at the sights before we even got into the National Park.
Our second stop, a lookout just underneath some loudly buzzing electric powerlines.
We're officially here! As soon as we saw the sign, we pulled over and took about a million photos and selfies with it. This is Sam holding up a polaroid I took while Dan filmed it developing.
We were all sitting in silence for the first 10 minutes of driving through the park. Being from Australia, we've never seen so many beautiful and tall Sequoia trees together before. Again, we were in absolute awe of our surroundings.
There is no phone reception in the National Park, so you only have a map to guide you. Though we found out pretty quickly that it's very easy to get around & hard to get lost with most of the roads doing a big loop around once you're in the park.
Bear proof bins & storage containers.
Our first glimpse at the ever amazing Half Dome.
Sam's face of disbelief/awe/amazement at the waterfall that was casually on the side of the road. By this time we've pulled over a million times, but every time the sights were beautiful!
Our first mini hike was to Bridal Veil Falls. This was still just on our way in and through the park to our accommodation.
Spotting the huge pine cones hanging from the ends of the tree branches from our balcony.
We arrived at our treehouse where we were staying for the next few days. It was here that we said goodbye to our travel companion Hayden as he was picked up by a friend and they drove back to Los Angeles.
Our first sunset in Yosemite & the view from our balcony in the photo below.
Bridal Veil Falls hike information
hike length: 0.5 miles
hike time: it took us about 15 minutes there and back
difficulty: easy, the entire hike is a paved footpath
all photos edited with my Disposable Film Lightroom Preset!
