Mt. Ansel Adams Lyell Fork of the Merced River



Without a doubt this area in the eastern part of Yosemite National Park is my favorite place in the whole world. I have been to this magical place many times in my life and its spellbinding remoteness and spiritually uplifting charms have never failed to do anything less than enthrall and fulfill every fiber of my being! This special place was also one of photographic artist Ansel Adams favorite places in the world and the 11,700 ft mountain that bears his namesake was dedicated one year after his death in 1984.

One of the supremely special aspects about this location is its remoteness. It is a 21-mile hike to get here from any trailhead and requires 2 full days of effort for the backpacker in moderately good physical condition. In the six times in my life I have been here I have never seen another human being.

Autumn is my favorite time to backpack and photograph in the remote parts of Yosemite. On this particular trip in September of 2002 the weather was very cooperative but it had been raining slightly at night, which was leaving some cloud cover, and the sunsets were pretty colorful. This scene has such tremendous potential for sunset photographs because of the west facing aspect of the mountain, the forests edge, the meadow, and the slow moving water of the Lyell Fork of the Merced River. The river flows slowly and smoothly and as such provides a relatively calm surface for the reflection of Mt Ansel Adams.

There were just enough clouds to provide some filtration for the setting sun and thereby add some much appreciated red alpenglow to the scene. The first few shots of this scene were very satisfactory to me indeed, but the sunset color just got better and more intense with each passing moment. Then suddenly, and most unexpectedly, the softly diffused moon rose over a ridge to the southeast. Of the six times I have been to and photographed this place, this photograph represents the classic alpine mountain landscape photograph I had always hoped to make of my single favorite place in the whole world.

Nikon N90 Film Camera

Tokina 28-80mm ATX Pro 2.8 lens at f8

Fuji Velvia 50 ISO slide film

Singh-Ray 3 stop soft step split neutral density filter