The Drive Home (Part 14) - Yosemite National Park, CA

During March of 2018, I spent 3 days in Yosemite National Park in California taking photos. This was my first ever trip to Yosemite National Park during winter. It was amazing! I don't think I have ever experienced that much snow out in the forest. I visited the valley, went snowshoeing on Glacier Point Road, went snowshoeing on Tioga Road, and shot many photos at Tunnel View. My photos will be split into 14 parts. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos! If you ever get a chance to visit Yosemite National Park during the winter, I highly recommend it. It is a very different experience than a spring or summer trip. My cellphone photos from the trip can be viewed here.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best Yosemite National Park photos for 2018, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

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This is part 14, the last of my photos from this trip to Yosemite National Park. The photos in this post are all shot on March 20th, 2018. Photos are from Sierra National Forest and Catheys Valley Park.

Long exposure scenery of Merced River shot at Indian Flat Picnic Site in Sierra National Forest.

Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 39' 43" N 119° 50' 47" W

Black and white process of the photo above.

Photo of Old Blacksmith Shop in Catheys Valley Park in Catheys Valley, CA.

Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 26' 17" N 120° 05' 09" W 

 Black and white process of the photo above.

Photo of Old Blacksmith Shop in Catheys Valley Park in Catheys Valley, CA.

Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 26' 18" N 120° 05' 08" W 

Photo of Old Catheys Valley School in Catheys Valley Park in Catheys Valley, CA.

Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 26' 17" N 120° 05' 08" W 

Black and white process of the photo above.

This is all the photos for today and for this trip to Yosemite National Park. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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SR-140/Cathey's Valley Park - Yosemite National Park (Part 1)

Yosemite National Park is a national park located in California that stretches eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of California and covers around 761,268 acres or 3,080.74 km² of land. Yosemite National Park is best known for its waterfalls, deep valleys, grand meadows, giant sequoias, giant wilderness area, and much more. I, personally, love Yosemite National Park. I think it is very beautiful and is a great place for photographs. I also happen to live in the SF Bay Area which isn't very far from it! I try to make at least 1 trip almost every year to the park. I visited the park several month ago and I am here to show you some of the photos I took in the park as well as some photos I took on the way into the park from the SF Bay Area. These photos will be divided over several blog posts. I hope you enjoy the photos! Also, I have route information recorded using a Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver. If you are planning a similar trip to Yosemite National Park and would like to see the route I took, feel free to email me at the email address I provided on my "About the Photographer" page for a copy. I can provide you the route information in Google Earth KMZ, Canon NMEA, and GPX formats. If you would like to get notifications when I do post, you can Like/Follow me on the following fan pages: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. If you are interested, choose one of the links below:

• Yosemite 2013 (Best Photos)
• Yosemite 2013 (All Photos)

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Now let's introduce you to the photos for today. The photos for today was from the first day of my trip traveling from the SF Bay Area to Yosemite Cedar Lodge, a hotel near Yosemite National Park. I took many photos on the road so the ones shown today will only be some of it. Most of the photos today was taken on California State Route 140 (SR-140) with a few photos taken at Catheys Valley Park in Catheys Valley, CA (a park near SR-140).

Message from the Photographer: I recently took a road trip from the SF Bay Area to Vancouver, BC, Canada! I took over 2500 photos on the trip. This means it will obviously take me quite a while to sort through everything. I am trying my best to hurry up and work on them. I hope you guys will check back for it. :)

Loved the blue sky and the clouds that day. Made for a really nice country scenery. The road you see is SR-140. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 19 25 N 120 15 35 W

 Someone's farm fenced off with barbed wire. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 19 25 N 120 15 35 W

Photography Tip: The 1st four photos are some of the best work I've done (in my opinion) of rural landscapes. See how the colors are saturated? That is not Photoshop you are seeing there (I did put in a little bit of saturation in Camera RAW), but most of it was because of the polarizing filter in front of my camera lens. Polarizing filters can help get rid of glare (from windows and other stuff) and can also help saturate the colors in the scene your camera is looking at (especially the blue in blue skies). If you do landscape photography, a polarizer is a must. When buying one, make sure you get one that is the correct size for your lens (size should be written on your lens and lens cap). Also make sure if you want auto focus to work, get the circular type. Also, don't cheap out on the filters because the cheap ones will color cast your image, plus tends to be very very hard to clean when it gets dirty. I personally would recommend the B+W brand filters. B+W filters are the best ones I've used so far. As always, if you need help with photography, you can always email me using the email provided on my "About the Photographer" page. 

Another photo on SR-140. Loved the curve in the highway. As you can see, a pro photographer may suddenly slow and pull over with no warning at all. :P So next time you see some douche driving slowly down an empty highway, this could be the reason. LOL

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 21 08 N 120 11 48 W

 Someone's farm fenced off with barbed wire. Some cows off in the distance. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 37 21 08 N 120 11 48 W

The 1st photo I took at Catheys Valley Park in Catheys Valley, CA (near SR-140). This is an HDR composition I turned black and white. After some Googling, this seems to be a historical blacksmith shop. Not too sure though. The internet doesn't seem to have a lot of information on this park, however the park seems to have some historical significance. 

 You probably have guessed it, before I turned it black and white, it was in color! :P Here is a colored process of the HDR composition. 

A giant grass field at Catheys Valley Park.  

Zoomed out shot of the grass field.  

 A shot of the grass field at a different angle. 

An HDR composition of the playground inside the park.  

A sign labeling the park. Would have gotten a photo of the historical school house, but I couldn't find a really good angle, and of course was in a bit of a rush to get to the hotel before the sun disappears for the day.

A sign talking about the history of Catheys Valley. If you can't read the text just email me at the email address I provided on my "About the Photographer" page for a full resolution copy. Make sure you tell me which blog post it is. 

A sign honoring the Armed Forces of the US. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from my drive to Yosemite National Park (on SR-140). Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Copyright Warning: These photos are some of my best and most popular works of art. Unauthorized usage and reproductions are strictly prohibited. Please contact me here to purchase prints and negotiate photo licenses.