PHIL HAWKINS PHOTOGRAPHY

Landscape: Yosemite National Park, etc.

Most of these are of Yosemite National Park, where I spend about 120 days a year. The majority of the rest are from the Sierra Nevada area south of Yosemite in the Sierra National Forest.

Thunderstorms in the central Sierra Nevada brought out a great display of rainbows along the Kaiser Pass Road.
   
In the Inyo National Forest
   
A cloudy day in spring from Valley View w/ the 11mm lens capturing the great clouds that rolled through in late afternoon.
     
  
Moonbow over Upper Yosemite Fall
   
About an hour after sunset, when the moon was rising over the east end of the park. At the same time, a mist hovered over the valley floor that captured the headlights from autos on the roads leading into and out of the valley. The "spray" of light is a result of auto headlights shining on the puddles of water and reflecting upward through the mist. Surreal.This was about a 7 minute exposure, with a Canon 5D at f/2.8 w/ a 24-70 Canon "L" Zoom lens at 24mm, 200 ISO.
   
Yosemite Valley in winter; Sunset around New Year's. It had been snowing all day and just before sunset the skies began to clear and I got a great
     
  
South end of Deadman Canyon in Kings Canyon National Park.
   
  
In the Inyo National Forest
     
  
There was a half-moon above just after sunset and it illuminated the valley.
   
The mist swirls around the valley floor in this 7-minute exposure.
   
     
  
Shot with a super-wide 11mm f/4.5.
   
  
Yosemite Valley during a rain storm.
     
  
Two views of a magnificent sunset shot of El Cap along the Merced River. I waited 4 hours for this shot in rain, wind and cold.
   
A lone fisherman heads for home after a tranquil day on Millerton Lake.
   
     
  
   
A patchwork of light was drifting over the valley through the clouds and I waited until one hit just the right spot; on the waterfall.
   
Panoramic shot of the Valley View.
     
  
The clouds broke just enough to allow a shaft of light to illuminate El Cap.
   
Oak trees in November in Yosemite Valley.
   
Moon over Millerton lake and a 4 second exposure.
     
  
Nevada Fall in full force
   
Yosemite Valley soon after sunset after a rain storm cleared and the moon illuminated the mist.
   
One of my more popular shots, I took this in a driving snowstorm with some difficulty. Had to keep wiping snow off the lens before I got one with a clean lens.
     
  
Hiking in the hills above Millerton Lake gave me this vista.
   
At dusk from Tunnel View
   
A storm had just cleared out that day and the air was very clear, and driving home from Visalia I saw this scene and stopped to take the winter wheat against the brilliant view of the Sierra National Forest. Usually the air is too polluted to see this.
     
  
From Glacier Point.
   
The view from Glacier Point
   
This is a composite of three photos, each element taken in June 2008.
     
  
Rural road in Madera County of California
   
Sunset clouds over Millerton Lake
   
At Olmstead Point, along the Tioga Road. This Bristle Cone Pine is estimated to be over 3,000 years old.
     
  
The mist hang on to the valley floor
   
El Capitan shrouded in clouds after a winter storm.
   
Just after a storm cleared
     
  
Normally mid-day is not the best time to be doing landscape shots, but the cloud patterns changed things.
   
An early fall storm without much punch came through the first weekend of Oct. 2006, but left a great sunset! This is Huntington Lake in the Sierra National Forest just south of Yosemite.
   
Just as the sky brightened at dawn, a mist hugged the valley floor; this was shot from Tunnel view.
     
  
Mist covering the valley floor of Yosemite National Park.
   
The moon appears to be rising in this composite image. The moon is never in this position, which makes this image impossible in the real world, but it's nice to fantasize about what it would look like.
   
Clouds over Half Dome from the summer of 2006. From Glacier Point.
     
  
Bridalveil Fall on a windy day.
   
The foothills of the Sierra National Forest.
   
The oil drilling platforms off the coast of southern California near Huntington Beach.
     
  
Extended exposure on highway 145 near four-corners at highway 41 in Madera County, California
   
Taken at 3am on a very cold, clear night with a full moon. I couldn't resist losing a little sleep to snag this shot...About a 4 minute exposure at 400 ISO f/5.6 24mm on my 20D.
  
It had been stormy all day, and as is often the case, the storm cleared just before sunset and the lighting was great! The orange glow you see on El Capitan was caused by the sun filtered through clouds above my head and out of the shot. The sunlight on Half Dome and Cloud's Rest in the background was direct and did not have any cloud obscurity.
     
  
Shot from Glacier Point, this was a ten-minute exposure of Yosemite Valley partially illuminated by moonlight.From left-to-right, Yosemite Village, Housekeeping Camp, The Ahwahnee Hotel (top), Curry Village and Upper, Lower and North Pines campgrounds.
   
Reflection of Half Dome in the still Merced River in October.
   
At days end in June.
     
  
There are some spectacular views from the road leading into Kings Canyon NP and I set up and waited through the sunset for this shot... my favorite of the bunch. (The rest were rather non-descript)