This was the result of some drive-by photography. I rarely do this, choosing usually to work a scene slowly and methodically. I find that I usually need some time at a scene to perfect my composition and experiment to really get an image I'd be happy with. Usually its images near the end of a shoot (when I go back and process) that I prefer. This was a different case. I had been up at Tunnel View to make some black & white images of the Yosemite Valley with all these clouds following a late night storm. After wrapping up there I noticed that clouds were rising up very quickly from the base of El Capitan and so went back to the car and wanted to make my way there because there was a specific image I had in mind I wanted to make there. When I entered the valley, on the way, I saw this scene in front of me. The light was diffuse, there were layers and I just couldn't resist. I didn't want to fully stop, and do an actual shoot because I really didn't want to miss what I'd noticed at El Cap. So I pulled the car over, lowered my window and took a quick snap.
The reason I chose to not work here was because I felt like this area was a one shot kind of place. There was only one place to set up your tripod and really only one shot to make (well two if you wanted to do something tight with the falls). I knew that with the open meadows under El Cap, I would have the freedom to move close and pull back and be able to experiment more. When I scout locations to shoot, this ability to experiment is something I tend to look for and prefer over places that are canned one shot places.
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