Another winter picture with a good story is this image of Yosemite. I'd always wanted to capture winter in Yosemite National Park, but it was difficult not living nearby because snow didn't stay on the ground very long. When I knew I was moving to Tennessee from Los Angeles in 2004, I had one more winter to try and get the shots. So, again, I called the weather service every couple of days, hoping for a winter storm. The floor of the park is 4000 feet in elevation, so the drop in temperature and the prediction for the snow level had to coincide with this fact. In mid-January, finally, a snowstorm was forecast. I drove the 8 hours from L.A. into the center of Yosemite and arrived in heavy rain. Undaunted, expecting the temperature to drop, I checked into the lodge, went to bed, and awoke at 5am. Still raining. Now I was upset. This was probably the last chance I'd have, and it looked like it was a no-go. I went back to bed and got up one hour later at 6am -- and holy cow! Everything was covered in white. I instantly yelled to my wife to get up, we got dressed, and for the next two hours took amazing pictures as fast as possible. I knew that one or two degrees would change everything, and it wasn't that cold at all. By 8:30am, the magic was gone. The temperature rose slightly and snow started melting from the trees, and when the branches are no longer laden with white powder, it's all over. I took this with a Mamiya RZ 67 medium format film camera, a 250mm lens, and Fujichrome Velvia 50.
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