Horsetail Fall at sunset
It’s February, so Horsetail Fall season has nearly arrived. Herds of photographers will soon be standing tripod-to-tripod hoping to catch that magical neon glow on this ephemeral slice of water.
Conditions have to be just right to capture a classic Horsetail Fall image: Sufficient water has to be flowing, and the skies need to be clear in the west to allow the setting sun to light the waterfall. It looks like the first condition will be met, as there’s plenty of snow on top of El Capitan to feed Horsetail. How clear the skies will be is anybody’s guess at this point. The ideal scenario would be a stretch of warm clear days during the peak window of light, but that seems unlikely in this El Niño winter.
About that peak window: I posted an article on my website last year describing how I used the Yosemite Association’s web cam to determine the optimum window of light for Horsetail Fall. My conclusion was that the peak day occurred about 60 days after the winter solstice, with the best light stretching from about seven days before that to three days after that. I’ve since learned that the earth wobbles a bit in its orbit, so the sun doesn’t set at exactly the same angle 60 days before the solstice as it does 60 days after the solstice. So I now use the angle — the azimuth — of the setting sun as the best way of determining when the peak day will be. This year February 18th comes closest to the ideal angle, with the window of best light stretching from about February 11th through February 21st.
There are basically two good spots to photograph Horsetail: near the El Capitan picnic area along Northside Drive, and along Southside Drive about .8 miles east of the Cathedral Beach picnic area. I prefer being near the El Capitan picnic area, but both locations have their virtues.
Many people have asked me if I’ll be doing one-day Horsetail Fall workshops again this year with The Ansel Adams Gallery, but I’ll be attending the North American Nature Photography Association’s (NANPA) Summit in Reno from February 16-19, so I’ll miss most of the Horsetail Fall craziness. The Gallery will be hosting a couple of afternoon photo classes with their staff photographers during that time, and if conditions are right they will lead their groups to good spots for Horsetail Fall.
Even though I might miss out, I hope we get some clear sunsets between February 11th and 21st, as that would make many other photographers happy! Good luck to all of you with Horsetail aspirations this year.
Tags: Horsetail Fall, Landscape Photography, Michael Frye, Photography, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley
Michael, do you know about The Photographer’s Ephemeris? I find it invaluable for knowing the declinations and azimuth of sunset, sunrise, moonset and moonrise. Nifty little Adobe Air application that overlays solar and lunar “paths” on Google Maps satellite images. Think Google Earth with sun and moon ephemeris information. Get it here: http://stephentrainor.com/tools
Disclaimer: I have not received any compensation for the above endorsement. I am truly a happy user of this free application!
BTW, don’t discount your work using the webcams–when it came right down to it, you *did* nail the prime day for full color on the falls. You’re right, azimuth (the point on the horizon where the sun sets or rises) is more critical than the declination path.
When you get back from NANPA, I’d love to read a report on what you learned. Have a great time, and don’t worry, I’ll be out at Horsetail greeting the ‘togs!
All the best,
Edie
Thanks Edie – I didn’t know about this app but I’m always interested in stuff like this, so thanks for the tip.
Actually I don’t go to NANPA to learn anything! If I do that’s a bonus, but mainly I go because it’s a great place to make connections. Social networking is a lot older than the internet.
So I tried the app that Edie mentioned, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, and it’s excellent. By itself it couldn’t tell me when the prime date is for Horsetail Fall, as it can’t take into account the lay of the land to the west and figure out the exact angle necessary for the sun to set between the ridges to the west. You can make a pretty good estimate of this by looking at the topography on a map, but only an estimate. So that web cam view is still the best way I know of determining that. But it’s a great program for determining sun and moon positions in any situation; I quickly figured out the right time for a moon photo I have in mind. Highly recommended.
Hi Michael: I saw some traffic coming my way from your site, so thought I’d click on by. Love your images of Yosemite. Haven’t been there myself for 26 years (!), and would love to revisit.
You’re right that TPE won’t tell you the optimal date, but it does let you check out the angles of the topography using the Geodetics feature under Details. I posted a screen grab here to show the idea: http://tweetphoto.com/10359982. Just drag the grey map marker where you want and check the angle of elevation.
Mid-February does indeed look like a wonderful time to be there!
Cheers,
Stephen
Thanks Stephen. Love your program, as I said, but I’m still learning it. Maybe with more precise application of the technique you described I’d be able to tell the exact optimum time for Horsetail. I’ll let you know how it turns out.