by Aaron Meyers
Horsetail Firefall, from the North Side Drive, February 2016. Aaron Meyers Photography
It’s not every day that you get to witness a waterfall catch fire, but that’s exactly what we did on February 22, 2016, in Yosemite National Park.
First, a bit of history on the term “Firefall”
The original Yosemite “Firefall” was coined in 1872, when James McCauley, the owner of the Glacier Point Mountain House Hotel, began tossing coal from a fire over the cliffs above Yosemite Valley. Viewers down below could see the embers tumble, and the Yosemite Firefall dazzled onlookers until it was discontinued almost 100 years later, in 1968.
The Yosemite Firefall wasn’t gone for good though, and just a few months before Yosemite’s 100th anniversary, photographer Galen Rowell spotted something spectacular. It was February of 1973, and while spending time in Yosemite Valley, he saw the spectacular evening light “fire” on Horsetail Falls. Although he wasn’t the first to photograph it (Ansel Adams photographed it in black and white in 1940), we can credit Galen with the popularity of the “Horsetail Firefall” event that we were going to witness.
Here’s how and why Yosemite “Firefall” happens
Horsetail Falls is a seasonal waterfall that only flows after snow melts above El Capitan. It’s located on the west side of El Capitan and can be viewed from a number of locations. This “Firefall” occurs when the sun is setting in just the right spot to reflect off the granite behind the waterfall and cause the water to light up. The sun also needs to be close to the horizon to give off its orange light and turn the waterfall “orange”. Lastly, a cloudless day is needed so that direct sunlight can hit the waterfall. It’s amazing how much like fire and lava the water becomes! The Firefall can be witnessed starting around Valentine’s Day each year and continues for 2 weeks. With the drought we’ve had in California for the last 5 years, this hasn’t happened since 2011 (luckily I was able to photograph it back then!).
Horsetail Firefall, from the South Side Drive, February 2011, from Aaron Meyers Photography.
Knowing that there are certain angles that are required for the Firefall to take place, I wrote a computer program that predicts when the phenomenon will most likely occur. Each year I post the results on my blog to help other photographers know which days and times are the best to photograph the falls. Typically, February 21 or February 22 are the “best” days to go, when the sun is in the most optimal position and the amount of time that the falls will be on fire is the longest.
Excerpt of the timetable for Horsetail Falls, 2016, from Aaron M Photography Blog.
Our 2016 pilgrimage to see liquid fire
I was first inspired to visit the Horsetail Firefall when I saw a photo by fellow SmugMugger, John Harrison. Wanting to pass along the tradition, this year I invited my fellow SmugMug employees to join me for a photo road trip! A group of eight SmugMug employees gathered early on Monday morning (February 22) and made the four-hour drive to Yosemite National Park. Thanks to social media, what was once a little known event has now turned into a massive spectacle. News agencies from CNN to the BBC flashed photos and videos of the event, and thousands of photographers flocked to Yosemite during this two week period. In fact, so many people visit the park from February 14th to February 26th that the National Park Service has to close one lane of traffic to add parking for viewers to sit and wait for sunset.
Our tripods and cameras are all set up. Photo by Alex Zielinski.
We arrived in Yosemite by 11 AM and stopped at a few of the tourist viewpoints, since a few of the SmugMuggers had never been to Yosemite before. Knowing that things could get very crowded, we raced to the El Capitan Picnic Grounds and dropped off our tripods, chairs, and reserved our spots. The Firefall occurs just before sunset, so that meant that we had 6 hours to wait…or explore!
There are a number of locations to photograph Horsetail Firefall. Any spot east of the falls with a clear view, not blocked by trees, will pick up the reflected light. The hard part is actually finding the waterfall, since it looks very teeny during morning and early afternoon sun. It isn’t until the sun gets lower, and more west, that the mist and shape of the waterfall becomes more visible. By sunset it will turn from white to gold, to orange, to red, before the color fades and becomes white again. We chose to photograph from a spot near the El Capitan Picnic Grounds on North Side Drive. It’s a bit less crowded and offers a beautiful profile view of the falls. As the sun sets, it moves from left to right along the west face of the rock known as El Capitan. From our spot, the left side of the wall is slightly hidden, allowing our photographs to highlight a glowing waterfall and not just a “wet wall”.
Locations to view Horsetail Falls, from Aaron M Photography Blog.
After claiming our “spot”, I took our group of SmugMuggers to visit some of the more popular destinations in Yosemite. We stopped at “Tunnel View”, made famous by Ansel Adams, visited Bridalveil Falls, and practiced our jumping at Cook’s Meadow, in front of Yosemite Falls.
Alex and Sarah at Tunnel View. Photo by Sarah Arnold.
The SmugMug crew is enjoying Tunnel View. Photo by Dan Wieme.
SmugMug crew takes photo at Tunnel View. Photo by Dan Wieme.
Practicing our jumping in front of Yosemite Falls. Photo by Sarah Arnold.
Taking in Brideveil Falls. Photo by Alex Zielinski.
Wanting to make sure we didn’t lose our spots, we decided to head back to the El Capitan Picnic Grounds and our lonely tripods and spend the day “waiting”. With four and a half hours until the event, we decided to eat lunch and see if we could find any fellow SmugMug customers.
We didn’t have to travel far. We quickly found quite a few customers who recognized our Smuggy hoodies. We had plenty of SmugMug swag to pass around to all of our loyal customers — even a cute little dog named Buxton got in on the action. Luckily we came prepared with chairs, food, and lots of great conversation. It was pretty cool to meet so many photographers all interested in capturing an awesome phenomenon.
Buxton, the cutest little SmugMugger! Photo by Sarah Arnold.
Ready for “Magic Hour”
Eventually the hours passed by and we were go for launch. The forecast for this particular evening was rather curious: it started out with completely clear skies (perfect conditions) but quickly soured as clouds began to form. Around 4 PM, I started to get worried that a layer of low clouds was going to block the sun from reaching the walls, but luckily, they mostly disappeared. At 5:15 PM, we all got excited — the waterfall was starting to glow orange and light on fire! Sadly though, around 5:30 PM, a cloud bank returned to put a damper on the show and the light died out rather abruptly. Not wanting to give up, and with some high hopes left, we waited a bit longer. To our delight, at 5:40 PM, the sun dipped below the clouds and Horsetail Falls lit up again, this time in a beautiful fiery red! Sarah, one of SmugMug’s amazing Quality Assurance specialists, put her creative eye to use and captured Horsetail Falls in the reflection of a puddle of water!
Aaron and Dan all set up, waiting for the Firefall. Photo by Dan Wieme.
Horsetail Falls reflected in a puddle. Photo by Sarah Arnold.
Using a second camera, I took one photo every second for 33 minutes to create this beautiful timelapse video of the evening:
[vimeo 156660595 w=500 h=281]
Tips to capture the falls
If you’re interested in photographing Horsetail Falls in the future, check out Aaron’s tips below. For more photography tips and tricks be sure to visit Aaron’s blog.
What to Bring:
- Your camera, preferably a dSLR
- A telephoto lens, somewhere in the 100–300mm range
- A sturdy tripod
- Cable release/remote shutter, to avoid camera shake
- Warm clothes
- A chair to sit and wait
- Food and water
Recommended Settings:
- Shoot in Aperture Priority, using the sharpest aperture of your lens, around f/9
- Use a focal length around 150–225mm, depending upon your location
- Set your camera’s ISO to its native setting (100–200)
- Use auto-white balance and shoot in RAW. I used cloudy or shade if you prefer to set it ahead of time.
- Use manual focus, focus with live view, and turn off your lens’ Vibration Reduction (Image Stabilization).
- Use mirror lockup to prevent camera shake
Other Recommendations:
- Arrive early. Some spots were claimed by 9 AM!
- Decide what view you want to photograph. There are multiple places to choose from that have their own pros and cons.
- Don’t get stressed if you do not see much water during the day. It will light up and appear better in the afternoon, especially as the temperature warms up and helps melt the snow.
- You do not need a polarizer. You want the reflected light that a polarizer would block!
- Be patient, make friends, and be pleasant to your fellow photographers. We’re all here to enjoy it and there’s no reason to get crabby. ;)
The results:
Photo by Aaron Meyers.
Photo by Dan Wieme.
Photo by Sarah Arnold.
