Yosemite National Park

I spent about 10 days in Yosemite and Tuolumme meadows. We drove there on July 3rd and rented a cabin in Lee Vining, just West of Yosemite National Park. I had my K20D with me and an assortment of lenses. Although I brought the Da*200mm and the DA* 300mm with me for testing them, I found that my DA 16-45mm was the most practical lens within the Park. I actually wish I would have had the newer DA* 16-50mm SDM f/2.8 lens, but it's a little too much money for me at this time. Someday... Read Full Story

I would assume that all readers know who Ansel Adams was. If not, read a little about him here. Ansel Adams is probably the most influential photographer of all time. There is this continuing debate about post-processing images being sort of cheating as the final results are not exactly what the original photograph looked like. Ansel Adams modified his negatives in the darkroom to where the final results weren't exactly like the original shot. He called that "Visualization" and as he said... Read Full Story

Today, along with the K10D and the K100D, we brought a DA 16-45mm, a DA 70mm limited, FA 35-70mm coupled with a cheap 0.25 fish eye attachment lens. Eventually, I will get the DA 10-17mm or the DA 12-24mm. You can't always get what you want...not in my world anyway.Today was our last full day in Yosemite. We spent the day in Mariposa Grove where all of the big trees are located. This first photo is of me and my wife. We took pictures of ourselves with a super wide angle lens attachment, and... Read Full Story

Wawona -Currently at approximately 700 acres Yosemite National Park is currently conducting an approximately 2000-acre prescribed fire near the community of Wawona, near Yosemite's south entrance. It is estimated this project will take one to two weeks to complete.It is to be burned in three units. Unit I is 737 acres. It is bounded to the northwest by the Jack fire, west to the Wawona Road (Highway 41 outside the park), and south along the Chilnualna Falls Road. Wawona Nw Prescribed Fire... Read Full Story

Photo by Carl Bidleman – Doug McConnell Spring is bursting all around northern and central California. It hasn’t been the wettest of winters, but we’ve had more rain near the coast and more snow in Sierra Nevada this year than last, and that’s good. We still have time for more, and I hope we get it. As the days grow gradually longer and warmer, the snow will begin to melt in the Sierra high country, and gravity will start pulling the water down through the canyons and off the sheer... Read Full Story

Photo by Stacy Geiken –Doug McConnell Yosemite National Park is one of my favorite places and I’ve been there hundreds of times since I was a little kid. I camped out there and stayed in hotels, motels and trailers. I like to spend the night inside the Park whenever I can, but there are some excellent accommodations just outside of Yosemite’s boundary, too. Down Highway 120 back towards San Francisco half an hour or so The Groveland Hotel is an historic spot, just look out for the... Read Full Story

Taking advantage of the spring break, Dan, Yuyu, Shiwei, Xiaoxu, Haoru and his wife, and I spent a 5-day trip in Yosemite National Park. Because of its beauty, Chinese people translate its name as "優勝美地". The season of early spring gave this beauty a colorful dress. Gray granite cliffs decorated by green trees and white snow, threw their images in the clear streams. Waterfalls benefited from snow melting and started to run and roar. All of these were decently wrapped by the pure blue sky, and... Read Full Story