This is from one of my favorite places in California, Yosemite National Park. I always feel very humble and small in this park. Sometimes its hard to communicate what I experience in a place through the camera. I think this image communicates well how I felt, humble, peaceful and small, surrounded by enormous cliffs and large trees. This was taken with a wide angle lens of 12 mm, showing off the grandeur of the valley. I love how the tree to my right frames the image while showing off the river , the trees, and El Capitan all together.
The early morning light creates the soft colors in this image. It also creates a need for long exposures because there isn't that much light. This image was taken with an exposure of 2 seconds. It works nicely here accentuating the motion of the river and it giving the foreground a soft feel.
I really love the contrast in this image between the solid rock above and the soft motion of water below. The contrast even shows up in the bright green trees against the gray rock face. This image was taken with F-stop 22 and ISO 100. These settings give the image a large depth of field, showing off the detail throughout the foreground and the background. This is one of my favorites.
Nichole Shanks
West Coast Fine Art
