Entering the Sanctuary
This is a capture of the entrance to Yosemite Valley last month. It seems very appropriate for me to post it this evening because I’m heading back to Yosemite tomorrow for more of that sublime “winter experience.”
I think this photo works because of the small snowy trees on the lower left. They give a sense of scale to the entire composition.
My title for the image is “Entering the Sanctuary.” I’ve given it this name because this is how I think of Yosemite: one of nature’s great sanctuaries, or holiest of holy places, on this green earth.
The photo was taken during a temporary break in blinding snow conditions. This textural rendition of the snow, sequentially a few frames on my memory card before “Entering the Sanctuary,” will give you some idea of what it was like:
View this capture larger.
March 12th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
Wow, exactly. I think that very idea, of Yosemite as sort of a holy place, has kept me so far from going to see it - like going to the Vatican surrounded by Coke-swigging inappropriately dressed loud tourists….THIS is a place that needs to be visited in silence, taken in with awe. Thanks for posting these beautiful shots!
March 19th, 2006 at 11:59 am
[…] probably its most photogenic, I am reminded how much the Sierras are a temple of nature, a sanctuary, a mysterious island, a snow-clad land apart, a refuge, and my most mysterious hidden kingdom […]
May 19th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
[…] al photos for my Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite and the High Sierras. Here’s one of the photos from one of our trips together this last winter. The good news: Julian and I will ha […]
July 3rd, 2006 at 12:20 pm
[…] er. In the winter, the crowds thin, and it feels like you have the wonderful, mysterious sanctuary that is Yosemite to yourself. The light takes on a luminous quality. Sudden storms surround y […]
October 12th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
[…] h larger. Here’s a photo of mine from February 2006. It shows Elephant Rock, near the entrance to Yosemite Valley, covered with fog and snow (note Elephant Rock is also in this photo). […]
October 24th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
[…] n what I was feeling when I did the capture. To talk about specific images, let me choose Entering the Sanctuary and Capillarity I. With “Entering the Sanctuary” I was approaching Y […]
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
[…] ime. This photo looks like spring is just around the corner. Who was to say that it would blizzard the next day?
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