I never got tired of the drive into Yosemite. It was so quiet and chilly and so still. It looked like it hadn’t been touched in ages.
We decided to go check out some redwoods and eat lunch. This is the one place I wish I had explored more but also felt super nervous about venturing out in alone. Yosemite is so big. The tree line goes for miles and miles.
We drove around for about 30 minutes before we found this amazing spot. A lot of times, Kern and I respected each others space. We would find a spot and we would go totally different ways. Often Kern would come back and I would regret not following him because he would always have these epic shots on his camera to show me. This time I saw this super white knee high grass that was calling me to it. It’s actually one of the places that didn’t translate to film well. I photographed it like crazy but I wasn’t happy with any of the images. I even took photos with the iPhone and no amount of editing would do it justice. Maybe I was just supposed to be there in the moment.
Scott + Amanda. I was walking around and I saw this super cute young couple with a camera. I immediately ran up to them and asked if I could photograph them. They were super down and after 30 minutes of hanging and shooting, we became fast friends. I really wish we could have hung out more. Turns out, Amanda is an awesome photographer in Southern California.
The first time we saw Half Dome. This stone ended up being the center piece for most of the final journey.
This is a hilarious attempt at a self portrait with my Rolleiflex during our lunch at Mirror Lake. Mouth full of food, bad exposure, awkward angle. I love it all.
I never would have gotten this shot if it weren’t for Kern. He saw this earlier and I totally missed it. We had just finished our hike to Mirror Lake and he took us exactly to this spot for this shot. Extremely thankful as it’s one of my favorites.
The drive up to Glacier Point. We cruised up on fumes jamming the Madi Diaz record.
Underexposed, but these tones. Damn. I love this shot.
We met so many cool people on the trip. I actually lost Kern here but after walking around for 20 minutes I found him chatting it up with a couple who was drinking wine and eating cheese. Turns out they were celebrating their anniversary. At first I tried to get Kern to leave but they ended up being so cool that we stuck around. We ended up leaving over an hour later. We followed them back to their minivan and the guy got me drunk on tequila from Costco. I want to visit them in San Diego but I can’t remember their names for the life of me…
The final big hike before we left up to Yosemite Falls.
At the top I took this guys photo. His posture bugs me but you can still get a feel for the vastness of the space. I honestly was scared to death taking this photo but I didn’t tell him.
The top of Yosemite Falls. If this were in the Spring, it would be rushing with water and we would’ve been dead in seconds. So quiet and calm now. I also thought I would fall to my death getting to this spot. Kern actually left me during our hike because I was holding him back. It was a really neat experience to do the last leg alone. I got up to the top and laid down for a nap.
You will see some guys on the top left that actually slack lined across the falls. It was the most insane thing. They were harnessed in but still the most epic thing to watch them walk across the gap. I could have gotten an amazing photo if I had gotten there an hour earlier. They were taking everything down by the time we got to the top.
Two photos of the same thing in a row, but still cool to see how different cameras and film captures the same subject differently.
What an incredible trip. Life changing in so many ways.
A huge, huge thanks to Jamie for taking over the blog this week and sharing his adventure. Nashville, Jamie knows how to party, and you should be at the Pop-Up Art Show he’s throwing on January 16th.