"Midnight Sun"
Upper Yosemite Falls by moonlight, Yosemite National Park, California.
When I began climbing the 2,000 vertical feet to this vantage point in the still and living dead of the night, I can tell you one thing... this was not the shot I had in mind. I was hoping for an epic "moonbow", a rainbow on the waterfall created by mist and moonlight. As the only place in the park to capture Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and the lights of the Valley in a single frame, I knew this was the view I wanted, and I was ready to wait until the wee hours of the morning for the infamous moonbow.
Shortly after I arrived, the moon made its way into a wide angle frame and I realized some mild potential of that shot. I took some test frames that came out nicely. Somewhat content with what I’d seen, but still greedy for the moonbow, I continued to wait out the night as the moon crept across the sky, beginning to focus on the falls like a gigantic spotlight. I waited and waited. I knew it was going to happen late in the night, as the moon had to move behind me for the optimal angle.
I turned on my phone for a moment, surprised to find reception. I knew of a photographer friend who had been planning on heading up here, so I checked my flickr feed, and my jaw immediately fell upon glimpsing a thumbnail of his moonbow shot from the previous night. He said he shot his from 2-3AM. It was only 12:30AM, so I waited and waited. I knew the window would be 50 minutes later today due to the lunar cycle. But 2AM came, 3AM, 3:30AM, and still no moonbow. Wondering if all the hiking and waiting had been for nothing, I began the trek back down into the vast sea of mist.
Five minutes down the trail, a view of the falls opened up and a huge double moonbow stared me in the face as the freezing wind and the blasting mist seemed to pierce my skin and chill my bones. I stole a few quick wipe-and-shoot frames before my body threatened to collapse in the impossible conditions and I had no choice but to continue to head down. I turned around at the classic upper falls view and a single moonbow was still easily visible. I got a few shots of that, too, and continued down to the bottom of the trail. As I plopped down in my tent as the first light of the new day began to appear, I continued to wonder if I should call this night a failure, partial success, or what. The thoughts soon dissipated as I slept like a dead log until the afternoon.
It wasn’t until I got home that I really realized how much I loved my shots from earlier that night, with the upper falls lit and dramatic moonlight in the background. The image you see here was a tricky manual blend of two exposures of that scene, the view I never thought I’d someday be posting. I didn’t process any images from this night for an entire month because, having been so caught up in finding my goddamn moonbow and feeling like anything else would be a waste, I assumed I didn’t have any shots worth a second look. Weeks later, now that my mind has finally relaxed from what could have been and settled for what was, I realize that “settled” is completely the wrong word: in my mind, this mystical scene blew away anything I could have imagined of the moonbow. It was much more dramatic, almost fairytale-like. I wouldn’t have given this night up for the world and I’m so glad I went. It was worth every step of the hike and breath of the wait.
It wasn’t until I got home that I really realized how much I loved my shots from earlier that night, with the upper falls lit and dramatic moonlight in the background. The image you see here was a tricky manual blend of two exposures of that scene, the view I never thought I’d someday be posting. I didn’t process any images from this night for an entire month because, having been so caught up in finding my goddamn moonbow and feeling like anything else would be a waste, I assumed I didn’t have any shots worth a second look. Weeks later, now that my mind has finally relaxed from what could have been and settled for what was, I realize that “settled” is completely the wrong word: in my mind, this mystical scene blew away anything I could have imagined of the moonbow. It was much more dramatic, almost fairytale-like. I wouldn’t have given this night up for the world and I’m so glad I went. It was worth every step of the hike and breath of the wait.
Then again, I never saw a moonbow from here, so I guess I can’t say anything for sure…
