We started the day by hiking to Lower Yosemite Falls, one of the main spots my dad was eager to take photos. We were among the many tourists making the less than wise decision to climb on the limestone rocks, but we at least had shoes with good traction to back us up. There was one man climbing around in teal crocs, which is a surefire way to slip and crack your skull open. Despite this hike being a simple one it did take the better part of the morning. The crowds at this hike are monstrous at all times of day, but the morning is better than the afternoon.
We took the shuttle to the visitor center area where we found a delicious lunch at one of the restaurants, the Loft at Degnan’s Kitchen where I had a teriyaki chicken bowl which was reasonably priced considering the amount of food you got for your money. We then wandered about for an hour before our photography class with the Ansel Adams Gallery which was $95 per person but was highly customized and the teacher was a professional photographer. He showed us how to turn on a live-view histogram and what he called “blinkies” which are the blinking highlights in the pixels where a picture is completely blown out. You want to get your histogram as symmetrical as possible without any blown out section because you can bring back detail in an over-dark space but you can’t bring back detail in a blown out section. We took photos of the meadows, of Lower Yosemite Falls, and of Bridalveil falls from afar.
After our photo class ended at just before five we drove back to camp to pick up dinner and drove towards Glacier Point for sunset photos. We ate Backpacker’s Pantry Chicken Fetuccine for dinner while watching the sky turn to cotton candy while the sun descended behind us. After the sun was down and we had achieved the photos we were after we went back to the valley for night photos over the meadows.