Gary La Musga  


Horsetail Falls Firefall by Gary La Musga

June 2020 - Horsetail Falls Firefall

June 2020 - Gary La Musga

Original

About the Image(s)

Firefall, February 2016, Yosemite Valley, Horsetail Falls. Each year during the month of February, the sun lines up on Horsetail Falls to exhibit a picture that looks like water is on fire. This was shot with my Sony A99, at 1/6sec, f11, ISO 100, Tamron 150-600mm. This effect usually lasts from around February 8 to the 22nd of each year. The man made Firefall ended in 1969, but Natures natural firefall is something to come see.

I didn't do a lot of post processing on this photo. I decreased the highlights,increased Luminescence, (red, orange and yellow to bring out the fire from the water and mist), saturation and sharpening, with a little texture and clarity added, with increased sharpness.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted




R Gary Butler   R Gary Butler
(Group 4)
Gary, thanks for sharing. What an amazing sight. Being from the east coast I have gotten just a few chances to visit Yosemite. I am awed by its natural beauty even before seeing this phenomena. Thanks for sharing it.

I think that there are several pieces to the composition that draw my eye - the pines in the lower left, the snow on the bluff and the sky. I feel that more of the last would further enhance the image and might have chosen to leave all of the sky you captured originally.

From my experience two questions arise. First, is the color and brightness you achieved post-processing real and just wasn't captured in the initial shot? Second, since you didn't mention it, were you using a tripod that enabled you to shoot at 1/6 second with a 150-200mm lens and still get this sharpness?   Posted: 06/03/2020 05:47:09
 
Brought out colors in post processing, was also very bright in the original shooting. Yes tripod. I rarely shoot landscape without a tripod. I did went back and expanded the sky and did like as well can't tell which I like best. Your thoughts   Posted: 06/05/2020 22:41:15
Comment Image
 
Brought out colors in post processing, was also very bright in the original shooting. Yes tripod. I rarely shoot landscape without a tripod. I did went back and expanded the sky and did like as well can't tell which I like best. Your thoughts   Posted: 06/05/2020 22:41:18
Comment Image



Charles Walker   Charles Walker
Gary, I have seen this image published in prestigious photographic magazines. Yours is better. You were patient. You were there at the right day and right moment. And technically you found the sweet spot for shutter duration, depth of field and lens choice. What you did in post processing to ignite not only the waterfall, but also the sky, made a good image, a great image.   Posted: 06/05/2020 20:18:22
 
Thank you very much for your comments. It was a great day for shooting. You don't always get to see it.   Posted: 06/05/2020 22:34:53



 
I know a couple of professional photography instructors that live in northern California that shoot at Yosemite a lot. I am sure that they would be very impressed with this image. This is definitely a professional quality image. Great work!   Posted: 06/11/2020 09:48:35



 
Scott,
Thank you for your encouraging remarks.   Posted: 06/13/2020 15:12:32



Trey Foerster   Trey Foerster
Wow! Outstanding for all the reasons cited above. I like the contrast between the dark foreground trees and facing and the waterfall. On the expanded sky I'd get rid of the tree leaves at top left. What an experience to have been there to capture this.   Posted: 06/24/2020 18:32:51