YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) -- A window of time just
opened in Yosemite National Park when nature
photographers wait, as if for an eclipse, until the moment when the
sun and earth align to create a fleeting phenomenon.
This marvel of celestial configuration happens in a flash at
sunset in mid-February - if the winter weather cooperates. On those
days the setting sun illuminates one of the park's lesser-known
waterfalls so precisely that it resembles molten lava as it flows
over the sheer granite face of the imposing El Capitan.
Every year growing numbers of photographers converge on the
park, their necks craned toward the ephemeral Horsetail Fall,
hoping the sky will be clear so they can duplicate the spectacle
first recorded in color in 1973 by the late renowned outdoors
photographer Galen Rowell.
"Horsetail is so uniquely situated that I don't know of any
other waterfall on earth that gets that kind of light," said
Michael Frye, who wrote the book "The Photographer's Guide to
Yosemite."
"How many are perched on a high open cliff? Most are in an
alcove or canyon and won't get the sun setting behind it.
Yosemite's special geography makes this fall distinctive," he
said.
Four decades ago, photographers had only to point and shoot to
capture another famous Yosemite firefall - a man-made cascade of
embers pushed from a bonfire on summer nights from Glacier
Point.
But photographing Horsetail is a lesson in astronomy, physics
and geometry as hopefuls consider the azimuth degrees and minutes
of the earth's orbit relative to the sun to determine the optimal
day to experience it. They are looking for the lowest angle of
light that will paint Horsetail the colors of an iridescent sunset
as rays reflect off granite behind the water. It materializes in
varying degrees of intensity for the same two weeks every year.
"If you hit it at just the right time, it turns this amazing
color of gold or red-orange," said Frye, a photo instructor with
the Ansel Adams Gallery in the park.
Adams photographed the fall, but his iconic black and white
images do not capture its fiery quality, and it's unclear whether
he ever noted it.
To be successful in photographing the watery firefall, it takes
luck and timing, and the cooperation of nature. Horsetail Fall
drains a small area on the eastern summit of El Capitan and flows
only in the winter and spring in years with adequate rain and snow,
which is scarce this year. Experts say it doesn't take a lot of
water for the fall to light up.
Most important, the southwestern horizon must be clear, and
February is the time of year when storm clouds often obscure the
setting sun.
When conditions come together, the scrawny Horsetail Fall is the
shining star of a park famed for its other waterfalls - raging
Yosemite Fall and Bridalveil Fall. But Horsetail is the longest
free-falling one, with a drop of 1,500 feet before it hits granite
and spills another 500.
The fire lights up around dusk and lasts for about two minutes.
The best views are east of El Capitan along the main roads into and
out of Yosemite Valley. Most photographers gather at the El Capitan
picnic area, a small pullout marked only by a sign with a table
etched on it. But park officials say the inexperienced can look for
the hordes of tripods and cameras to find a vantage point.