Yosemite

For someone who reveres John Muir and Ansel Adams as much as I do, I certainly took my time getting to Yosemite National Park. This summer I finally made my pilgrimage, and though the trails were dusty and crowded, I did manage to find a few moments of transcendental glory. When you exert every fiber of your being to reach a point, and then sit still with nature for awhile, when waterfalls make rainbows arch the valley, and clouds make shadow play on the face of mountains, you understand the inspiration of great humans like Muir and Adams. To pay homage to Adams' work, I decided to do this series in black and white with a little extra contrast.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
- John Muir

"To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things."
- Ansel Adams

Read more about my California adventures in the On The Road journal entry, Day 11: Yosemite National Park.