I made this image of the Milky Way and Tuolumne Meadows from near the west end of the meadows. June to a wonderful time for the Milky Way. It appears early in the evening and lasts all night. My wife, Margaret, and my daughter, Sabrina, were with me. We all loved the experience; it was very cold and windy. The Milky Way and night time shooting has been a wonderful learning experience for me over the last year or so. Despite the reputation that "digital photography" is easy, not everything is a snap in the digital world. There are many different setting and lenses to consider at night time. Things like high ISO speeds, white balance, long shutter speeds, faster lenses, noise issues, and more. Not all of my efforts have worked out! As I say in workshops, "the inevitable failures provide important clues to eventual success". Galen Rowell was a long-time friend and mentor. He believed in that mantra. The idea is so true that even if I think I "nailed" an image the first time; I can almost always go back and make it better. This capture was made almost exactly where John Muir and Robert Underwood discussed the "Yosemite" park idea in 1869. Now this location is a mainstay of he John Muir Trail.
