A one-day vacation in Yosemite

I don't think spring can happen without a visit to Yosemite when the dogwoods are blossoming!  So a couple Fridays ago I cleared my schedule, called a friend, and off we went to Yosemite.

I'm not sure when I last had such a perfect day.  It was a little slice of heaven.

We meandered around the valley and photographed the lovely dogwood blooms, attempted some blurred-motion water photos at Happy Isles (oops, I forgot my neutral density filters), hiked up to Vernal Falls, saw the shimmering rainbow that lives in the spray, got soaked on the Mist Trail, shared laughs, had flax crackers and peanut butter and meatballs (seriously!), and marveled at the lavish beauty all around us all day.

I'm always amazed how extravagant God is.  I mean, it's ridiculous.  Seriously?  Massive granite monoliths, thousands of feet high...soft green trees loaded with dozens of delicate white flowers...gushing waterfalls, every second of the day, for weeks on end...(Do you have any idea how much water goes over those falls every minute?  I don't but it must be a lot!)

So I tried to take it all in, mostly with my eyes, but sometimes with my camera.  :)  It's impossible to do justice to places like Yosemite Valley with a camera, but one can certainly enjoy oneself trying.  ;)

Sit back in your chair and relax...and maybe you can enjoy a mini-vacation while you view the photos.

Ribbon Falls, next to El Capitan, in all its spring snowmelt glory...

 

 Obligatory foot photo.  ;)

 

There are several apple trees at Curry Village.  Cracks me up to see apple blossoms in YosemiteValley.

 

On our way to Happy Isles, we came across this pathway art done by some hiker before us...haha...

 

Dogwoods and a sun star!  Doesn't get much better than that!

 

 

Then we headed up the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls...

 

Our "pre-waterfall" fisheye lens self-portrait. 

 

I love the rainbow that lives on the Mist Trail.

And now we're soaked.  And happy.

 

There are a couple pink dogwoods in the valley too.  I'm not sure if they're native but I love them!

 

And just before sunset we stopped along the Merced River, on our way out of the park...such pretty warm light...

Hope you enjoyed the mini-vacation too. :)

Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Good things ahead...

I haven't had time to post Yosemite photos this week, but I will Monday...meanwhile here are a few that already went on Facebook, in case you didn't get to see them.  :)

And finally, something pretty I saw during Tyler and Missy's engagement session.  Love this light -- so dreamy.

Full post on Monday!

Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Tyler and Missy - engagement session

When I met with Missy to talk about wedding photos, she told me how much she loves daisies...and I thought, aha!  I have just the spot for the engagement session!  This is the perfect time of year for daisies at my favorite park in the Oakland hills.  :)

So after a few reschedules (seems the rain decided to come only on Saturdays this month!) a Saturday came with perfect weather, and I had a grand time photographing Tyler and Missy among the daisies, redwoods, and little blue forget-me-nots.

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to photographing Tyler and Missy's outdoor wedding in August!  :)  They are an awesome couple! And thanks to Amanda for helping out with this engagement shoot -- she's a great assistant.  :) 

To view all the photos from this session, click here.

Next post...I had a perfect one-day-vacation in Yosemite last week...can't wait to share.

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Heather - senior portraits

Meet Heather, a beautiful young woman who is graduating this year!  It was such a treat to go up to Petaluma and photograph her.  She is simply lovely, inside and out, and she has a calm confidence that I really admire.  She has a great sense of humor too!  :)  And her mom turns out to be quite the expert at holding a reflector -- thanks for helping, Jeannette!

It was a privilege to be entrusted with your senior portrait session, Heather.  With your talents, skills, and love for people, I'm excited about where these next few years will take you!

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty... 

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook