Tunnel View Between The Storms

WJMcIntosh
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Tunnel View Between The Storms
Tunnel View Between The Storms

I had been watching the weather reports for Yosemite Valley for over a week in anticipation of a Winter Storm that was due to arrive last Wednesday night. I had been hoping for an opportunity to drive up to the park and grab a shot of a clearing rainstorm with low clouds scattered across the valley floor. I've shot from the tunnel several times, but I have never been able to get a shot with steamy low clouds rolling through the trees.

So early last Thursday morning, I made what was going to be a 12 hour, 3 tank full gamble to make a one day dash up to the park trying to make it to the tunnel just as a break in the clouds was due to arrive. I drove through scattered rain showers on my way up hwy 99, and by the time I arrived in Oakhurst at 1:30, low clouds had moved in over the Sierras and it looked like I might have wasted an entire day trying to get my shot. But after driving up hwy 140 for a while, the clouds broke up and suddenly I began to worry that ALL of the clouds would be gone and I would be left with just another cloudless afternoon up at the tunnel.

But as I entered the park, the low clouds moved in again and it began to rain in earnest. As I arrived at the tunnel, there was a small but determined group of photographers camped out hoping that the clouds would lift and that the rain would let up. I took a spin around the park just to pass the time, and by the time I had returned, the rain had stopped, the clouds were breaking up, and there was only one photographer left. And best of all...my low clouds were scattered across the valley floor! The lone photographer (Dave) and I shot for about 90 minutes straight before it started raining again. People came and went, but as it began to pour and the clouds moved in again, I was the last photographer to head back to my car. The above shot was taken in the pouring rain just as the rain clouds began to turn orange behind me. I kept shooting as the end of the valley lit up in a bright topaz blue before all the light was gone.

After stopping to see some friends of mine in Mariposa, it was time for the long drive back, which was not without its own adventures. I hit some serious fog just outside of Bakersfield and you literally couldn't see two feet in front of the car. After the fog broke up, I made it through the grapevine only to discover that the entire Southbound 5 freeway was closed due to construction and had to take a detour through downtown LA. I didn't get home until 1:30 AM. All in all, a very crazy day and a bit of a gamble...but I will definitely be trying that again.

William McIntosh Photography | 500px | Twitter

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Taken on: January 30, 2014
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