In Memory...

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 7, 20179,705 views9 comments

Just a little over a month before our visit to Yosemite Valley, there was a significant rock fall off the east buttress of El Capitan. As a result of this rock fall a climber from England was tragically killed (although he was not climbing at the time.) The primary reason I captured this was simply to record the evidence of the rock fall. No way to really judge scale here, but the NPS estimated:
"The irregular "sheet" of rock that fell is estimated to be 130 feet tall, 65 feet wide, and 3-10 feet thick." The crescent shaped lighter area is that piece of El Capitan that came crashing down. You can read more here.

What may prove interesting next February is that the sheet of granite that slipped away is pretty much directly below where Horsetail falls flows; so there may be whole new set of images we'll get bombarded with this year. I may even have to join in since I haven't tried photographing the natural firefall for a good 10 years or more.

So in this case I used El Cap and the new crescent granite scar as a backdrop for another set of Alder trees. More of a record shot for me, but wanted to share the story.

Thanks for any comments, critiques or suggestions!

Lon

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on December 7, 2017 at 8:35 PM

Busy to look at, but the soothing color tones are easy on the eyes. The larger view much better. The detailed trees blend nicely into the softer rock face. Must have something to see and hear to see that amount of rock fall. The light crescent almost looks like a waterfall tumbling down.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Stanton on December 7, 2017 at 9:52 PM

I like the very fine lines of the twigs and branches. The off white resin tone of color adds quite a lot giving very haunting feel to the image, Lon.. most appropriate for the sad event it depicts.

Registered on March 1, 2015, 54 Posts, 453 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on December 8, 2017 at 12:32 PM

I have looked at this a few times, Lon, and it just feels too busy to me. While I like the tones and the whispy branches, I think this would have worked better if there was light on the trees.

Actually, the rockfall occurred to the east (right) of where Horsetail Falls drops off the wall. The slab that peeled is closer to the East Buttress of El Cap.
--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Igor Doncov on December 8, 2017 at 2:12 PM

I'll have to agree with the busy comments. I think it's due to the fact that the background stone has so much texture. However, much of the texture is up and down so there is a rhythm to all of it. I find the upper part of image to be less busy and work for me in color as well. It seems to get busier as you work down. I also find that the least sharpest version on the comment page to work best for me. I'm not entirely sure why.

Registered on November 22, 2014, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on December 8, 2017 at 11:08 PM

This may be a record shot, but I find myself thoroughly enjoying this busy scene, Lon. The details in the large version are very striking and the love the cool silver and grey tones of the alders and the scared rock face of El Cap. Tragic story about the climber.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on December 9, 2017 at 1:40 AM

Documentary as it is, it still shows that a skilled photographer cannot just take a documentary image. I guarantee you could confiscate every camera from the tourists in Yosemite and you will not find an image like this on any of them. If you wanted a true documentary shot, you would have shot the scar by itself. So I'm going to categorize this as artful documentation, as would be expected from an artist. I rest my case.....

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on December 9, 2017 at 5:54 AM

Works for me as a documentary image Lon but the busy patchy background against the complicated network of branches is difficult for me to get into.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Ed McGuirk on December 9, 2017 at 8:07 AM

Lon, this is a busy image, but I like the muted tones of this scene. I really like what is going on in the tones and colors of the rock face, but the alders prevent my eye from getting too far into that part of the scene. You have two subjects here, I wish I could see more of the rock face, with the alders as more of a complementary element. The alder furthest to the right is okay with me, it's the left side of the tree part of the image that feels too busy to me.

Registered on November 29, 2017, 19 Posts, 260 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 9, 2017 at 1:37 PM

Thanks for the honest comments folks. Can't say I disagree. As I mentioned, more of a record shot for the moment.

Preston - I think you're right about the location of Horsetail falls. Thanks!

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments