So if you follow my Instagram feed you may have already seen this image...if that's the case, then I apologize for the redundancy. Back in July, Shauna's family and I went on a California vacation in celebration of her youngest brother graduating high school. We spent most of our time in the San Francisco area, though after falling in love with Yosemite when we were on our honeymoon, I managed to convince her family that it was well worth the hassle of needing to book more than one house for the week, getting a couple rental cars and making the 4 hour trek from San Francisco...thankfully once we arrived I think everyone agreed that it was worth all the extra effort. There is something truly magnificent about Yosemite, I could talk about it for hours. I've developed probably what borders on a slight obsession with the place. We were just there a few months ago and I am already planning what I would like to do when we go back again in a few years when Rider is a little older. It has such a tight grip on me...and if you have ever been to Yosemite you most likely understand the feeling that I am referring to.
On our last night in the park a few of us decided to hike up to the base of Lower Yosemite Falls, its not easy to get up there. You have to scramble through a large rock field with strong water rushing all around you. It's very easy to find yourself trapped on a rock with nowhere to go. Once we finally made it to the pool at the base of the falls there weren't many people around and the sun was fading over the top of the ridge. There was one group of guys who were debating getting in the (frigid) water and swimming up to the falls themselves which due to the California drought, were only a mere trickle compared to what they can be. Only one of the group decided to commit to the idea, he stripped to his briefs and dove in, let out a few yelps and swam out to a submerged rock right under the falling water. He stood there for probably 30 seconds and I snapped two shots, this one and another of him diving back in before swimming back across the pool.
This is probably one of my favorite shots that I took in Yosemite on this trip. Capturing the scale of a place like this in a photograph can sometimes be a difficult task. You know it is a big place but the sheer size can be hard to comprehend...even when you are there standing in it. Though I think you can feel it here...you don't need to see the other 2,300 feet of Yosemite Falls to understand how big it is and how small we really are.
