Yosemite National Park is an elemental place, one formed from a beautiful union of stone, wood, water and light. There is a wonderful time-lapse film project, Project Yosemite, filmed by Colin Delehanty and Sheldon Neill, that attempts to capture this elemental beauty. It has stunning vistas showing the changing light of both day and night set against the backdrop of some of the park’s iconic landmarks.
The night scenes with the heavens moving above as shooting stars fire across the starry sky are pretty incredible as are the movements of the climbers on some of the massive rock faces. They appear as bug-like figures and at night they become fireflies as their lights cast tiny but bright specks of light against the granite monoliths.
There are two great films. Take a look and definitely check out the Project Yosemite site. Just beautiful work.
Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.
Yosemite HD II from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.
One thing I haven’t mentioned yet about our time in California was our visit to the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite, a forest that contains over 500 Giant Sequoia trees. Because we were visiting late in the season and it was a gray, wet day, we pretty much had the trails to ourselves as we wandered among the immense trees. To be able to stand in their presence in the stillness and silence of the forest, to be able to fully take in the wonder of their size and to ponder the timespan of their lives, was magnificent.
On our recent trip west, we headed first into Yosemite National Park before heading over to San Luis Obispo for the show. Both Cheri and I had always wanted to see the iconic sights with which we were so well acquainted and thought that a few days there beforehand would better acclimate us to California time. We’re really glad we did. Yosemite was everything we had hoped for, even with the iffy weather as the storms that buffeted California would occasionally pass through.
Going as we did, in late November when the hustle and traffic of the high tourist season has long passed by, there were very few people there which added to the drama of the place. It’s easier to reverently take in the full power and magic of the place without the constant sound of human voices. And there is an elemental power there. It is all granite and water and wood and mists that shift quickly, one moment shrouding the cliffs and the next moving on to reveal a grand vista. Awe inspiring.
Redtree Times 