Vernal Falls Vernal Falls, Mist Trail, Yosemite, California. This is the last blog entry from my trip to Yosemite. It's fitting that I write about Vernal Falls, since the Mist Trail was my last hike. I couldn't leave Yosemite without hiking the falls. Growing up in Central California, my family and I made many visits to Yosemite. We always made sure to hike Vernal Falls, and it proved to be one of my favorites as a kid.

When I last set out on the Mist Trail, I intended to take a lot of photos close up to the falls. However, it's this photo, with the falls way off in the distance, that is my favorite. I like the look of the smooth water. It's calm and peaceful and I like the contrast with the rocks. To get the smooth water effect, I used a neutral density filter to get a 6 second exposure. I also spent a fair amount of time tinkering with curve adjustments in post processing. Straight out of the camera, the photo looked awful because the sun was just starting to rise behind the mountains and the entire river was in deep shadow.

I'm very happy with the photo. I just wish I had tried taking the same photo in landscape orientation as well. I guess I'll just have to go back.