We spent April 5th through 10th camping in Yosemite. It was a great time to visit. Evenings were around 40 degrees and the days were in the low 70s. It was great camping and hiking weather.
On the way in to the valley, we stopped at the overlook.
We brought two tents for this trip. Our regular 3 Meter diameter Soul Pad as well as an 1800's style triangle army tent.
Getting set up takes a few hours. Shannon's parents came along to help.
Ah, work is done, time to relax.
We had a new addition to our camping equipment this year. Ben and I built an "Off Grid" cell phone charger. Although there is not much reception in Yosemite, Cell phones now have replaced cameras, flashlights, weather stations, and MP3 Players to become an all in one device so it's handy to keep them charged. The box has a 10 Watt Solar panel and 36 Amp Hours of 12V battery backup.
Camping breakfasts are aways awesome!
I brought my Wet Plate Photography equipment. We also had Catherine Segura from CAS Photography with us on the trip which was a great opportunity for me to get some coaching from a real Pro! She was a great mentor and helped me a lot.
With Catherine's help and coaching. I was able to get a little better with each photo.
Catherine also took an amazing picture of Shannon's dad!
We used a portable field darkroom that Catherine designed and built.
We got some great pictures of Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls was a favorite of well known Wet Plate Photographer Will Dunniway. I had the good fortune to visit Will in 2019 and he helped me tremendously. Since he was close to Yosemite, Catherine and I had we had hoped to visit him during the trip. However, he passed away the same week. This was bittersweet, but it was nice to be able to give a tribute to him by photographing the falls he loved so much.
We later headed over to the overlook to take some more photos. Bridle veil falls lit up with a beautiful rainbow. It felt as though Will Dunniway was letting us know he was glad that we were there as he had passed away the same day.
I also brought along the Magic Lantern and performed Magic Lantern shows for the other campers. I've been getting mentored by Terry Borton of the American Magic Lantern Theater and this was a great chance to practice the craft for the public.
Overall this was an amazing trip. It was great to be out in the Sierras hiking, camping, taking pictures, and performing shows. I look forward to when we can do it again.
