Saturday, February 12, 2005

Made it! It's been a long day of driving and getting settled, but I'm now sitting happily in front of a roaring fire in my temporary Yosemite home's fireplace and typing these words.

My "home" by the way, belongs to renowned photographer Charles Cramer. I've admired Mr. Cramer's work in Yosemite's Mountain Room Restaurant, and here in his mountain cabin, I'm surrounded by it! Not that special inspiration is needed in addition to the natural beauty of Yosemite, but it's much appreciated nonetheless.

Charles Cramer is an authority on one of the most complicated methods of making color prints -- the dye transfer process -- although he's more recently adopted digital methods. For more information about Charles Cramer, his techniques and to see his online galleries, please visit his website here: http://www.charlescramer.com.

One thing he didn't get right was the access to his cabin. It's up on the side of a hill above the roadway, and there are no fewer than 50 steps leading up the steep bank to the house (or so I'm told…I didn't count them).

Not that I didn't have the opportunity. Heavy snow in the Yosemite region dumped drifts up to two-feet deep on Mr. Cramer's stairway, and I had the opportunity to shovel them this afternoon. Whew! It took two hours of steady work, which is without doubt the hardest workout I've "enjoyed" since competing in triathlons during the 1980s. Good thing I brought the big bottle of Aleve...

Although I haven't visited Yosemite Valley yet, I did find some less spectacular photo opportunities en route, specifically on the drive up Highway 41 from Fresno to Yosemite. First, rolling farmlands offered a minimalist composition of a water-pumping windmill against a foggy horizon. And then when the road began its tight, twisting climb up to Yosemite, more fog departing from a distant hillside caught my eye. Nothing to compare with the majesty of El Capitan or Half Dome, but they kept me out of other mischief for a while.

Here's photographic proof that I did actually shovel snow today, and finally, here I am sitting in Charles Cramer's living room writing these words on my laptop.

Tomorrow, I'll meet the rising sun at Yosemite Valley's Tunnel View, then explore the loop road for more images. See you then?

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