While waiting for sunset golden hour at the edge of the Merced River at Yosemite Valley, I continued to make a few iPhone images of the scene in front of me, experimenting with compositional variations.
Bridal Veil Falls is visible in the distance across the river from this location and is seen in many of my compositions here, but usually as a small part of the image. I zoomed in to get this shot.
Looking ahead to the next post with these last two images, after shooting the golden hour with my DSLR, I made a few images with my iPhone as the golden hour ended.
Golden Hour Reflection in Merced River, iPhone Photo
For my final evening shoot in Yosemite, I decided to check out locations in the valley, finally choosing the Yosemite Valley View Point.
I arrived early to be sure I could find a place to park in the small pull out and walked around the area with my iPhone scouting shooting locations before I retrieved my tripod and DSLR from my vehicle.
Yosemite Valley, iPhone Photo
I also experimented with test compositions, using my iPhone camera to do so.
I finally picked a place at the very edge of the Merced River at the parking lot. I would have like to have shot from farther done the river, but there were people sitting where they would be in most of my shots and lots of visitors wandering around that area, too. So I figured shooting across the river and back up the river from the parking lot area would avoid most such disturbances.
I set my tripod legs on rocks in the edge of the river and I had a rock to sit on while I waited for golden hour. While I waited, I made more images with my iPhone and a few test compositions with my DSLR.
After departing Santa Fe, New Mexico we headed to Colorado, stopping for a couple of nights in Durango.
I had anticipated spending most of our time in downtown Durango, allowing my wife to shop to her hearts’ content; but she was not interested in shopping here.
Our motel was near the Animas River, with a walking/bicycle path along the river. We checked out that path, but discovered that it was not a great walk at this location, being completely open with no shade and it was warmer in the sunshine than we expected. There was a pedestrian bridge on this path with good views of the river and that was as far along this path as we ventured.
We drove a few miles into the downtown area, intending to have dinner at one of the many restaurants there, but we could find no available parking. After a number of circuits through downtown, we abandoned it and finally found a decent Mexican restaurant in a small shopping center off of the main roadway between our motel and downtown. We enjoyed our dinner at outdoor seating at that location and judging by the number of Hispanic customers, it appeared to be a popular restaurant with the locals.
There are numerous parks in Durango and long pleasant walking/biking paths along the Animas River, which we checked out the full day we had in the area.
Animas River 1, Durango, CORiver RocksAnimas River 2, Durango, CORiver Floaters
I noted that the two youngest kids in the front of this raft were more interested in me than the river. It must have been the phone camera that I pointed at them.
KayakersModern Art
There are modern art work pieces in the parks.
Modern Art
We drove around the local area to check out the countryside, driving up into a national forest and along numerous backroads. Along one of these roadways, I spotted a large rafter or flock of wild turkeys, maybe a couple of dozen.
