Horsetail Fall

If you want to photograph Horsetail Fall in its fiery glory, you need to be in position at sunset in February, on an evening when no clouds block the sun. This isn't as easy as it sounds, as you'll be battling hundreds (thousands?) of other photographers for position, and clouds are more the rule than the exception in February. My best advice is to arrive early, or be prepared to park and walk a fair distance (I've walked over a mile).

The presence/absence of clouds from your vantage point is no predictor of success/failure. I've seen the hopes of many optimistic photographers dashed when the sun was obscured by a rogue cloud, hidden from their view on an otherwise clear evening, just as the fall started to warm up; conversely, I've seen photographers too early because the overcast sky gave no hint of the hole on the horizon that let sunlight slip through as the sun reached the horizon. My advice to anyone lucky enough to get a spot is to hang in there until at least five minutes after "official" sunset.

While Horsetail Fall is best photographed with a telephoto, if it starts to light up, don't lock into a single composition. Rather, vary your shots--start vertical, but try a few horizontal frames too. Go wider, then zoom closer to capture only a part of the fall.

How to get there

There are two popular places to photograph Horsetail Fall. To get to the picnic area beneath El Capitan, drive west on Northside Drive; about a mile-and-half beyond Yosemite Lodge, look for a loop road to a marked picnic area on your right. Once you park, hunt around for the vantage point that suits you. You can shoot right from the parking lot, move back into the trees behind the parking lot, or walk to the small clearing just a little east of the parking lot.

While it appears that vantage point for the above image was at eye-level with the top of the fall, I'm actually standing on the valley floor, at the river's edge. This location is across the river and upstream from the picnic area, on Southside Drive, about 3/4 mile west of the Swinging Bridge parking lot. It's a nice perspective, but there isn't nearly as much parking here, nor is there room for very many photographers.