Yosemite Park: A Photography Guide To The Eighth Wonder Of The World
It can be hard to convince people to take a vacation in their own backyard.
Sure, the United States is the fourth largest country in the world, measuring around 9.834 kilometres, but you live in the United States. You’ve been there and done that. Going on a vacation is all about jetting off somewhere completely new. Somewhere alien to you.
Would you really choose home over a bustling cafe under the Eiffel Tower? Or a gondola ride in the waters of Venice?
That’s like turning down an invitation to the gardens of Buckingham Palace because you’d rather appreciate the flowers in your own garden. Your landscaping might be great, but it’s not Buckingham Palace great.
The Beauty Of Yosemite Park
Or is it?
One of the most unforgivable things you can do as an American – apart from putting pineapple on a pizza – is fail to appreciate the beauty of where you live.
Sure, some locations might not be as beautiful or authentic as Paris or Venice, but some places are – and dare we say it, some are even more beautiful.
One of those places is Yosemite Park, in California. Referred to on their website as one of the wonders of the natural world, this is a place where every red, white and blue-blooded American should visit at least once.
Especially for all the photographers amongst you, this is a great location to travel to, with loads of beautiful photo opportunities to fill up a new Facebook album or Facebook photo book.
Still think that a vacation abroad would be better? Here are all the things you can capture at Yosemite Park to prove yourself wrong:
Visit The Most Photographed Attraction In The USA
One of the most popular spots to photograph in the US is a rock formation known as El Capitan. This is nestled in the west of Yosemite Valley, and it travels toward the sky at nearly 3,000 feet – so not a great place to visit if you experience vertigo!
For the best pictures possible, you can travel down to El Cap Meadow, which passes right along the base of the rock, and take some selfies right in front of the gigantic monument.
Experience One Of The Twenty-Five Waterfalls
The other reason Yosemite is such a great vacation destination is because it’s pretty much a 759,600-acre waterpark. Not only are there a load of gorgeous lakes and rivers – the Merced River even has sandy beaches – but there are a total of twenty-five waterfalls.
One of the best is known as the Bridalveil Fall, which has the most stunning backdrop imaginable. The Horsetail Fall is also a great spot for photographers. With the water almost looking like a firefall during the sunset, this would be great if you’re looking for more colorful, surreal pictures to upload to our photo book maker.
Take A Selfie In Front Of Your Laptop Screensaver
You might have seen Yosemite Park’s Tunnel View before, especially if you’ve ever looked up “cool-looking screensaver for my laptop” before. This place is so perfect you can see why the park is described as a natural wonder.
With unobstructed views of all the most famous Yosemite landmarks, including the Bridalveil Fall and El Capitan, the road on California State Route 41 is the perfect place to take a selfie that can never be beaten.
Test Your Skills At Half Dome
Another landmark you can see from Route 41 is the rock formation known as the Half Dome. This is a giant 4,737-tall rock that looks like it’s been cut in half. If you’re a skilled hiker, you can get permission to hike right to the top, and you don’t need us to tell you what kind of photographs you can take up there!
If you’re less experienced, we recommend hiking to Clouds Rest or the Panorama Trail – which is coincidentally a great trail for lovers of bird photography. These are still tough routes to test your skills, but the pictures you can take at the end make them so worth it. Once again, it’ll make you wonder how a place like this could exist in the USA – or anywhere in the world for that matter!
Smile At The Valley Of Dreams
There are loads of other things you can do in Yosemite National Park, of course. You can visit museums, historic buildings, famous cemeteries, you can rock-climb, take a ranger tour, go biking, fishing, horseback riding, you name it. But really, the only reason you need to go is to stand in Yosemite Valley, and simply look at the world in front of you.
From there, you will see the giant sequoias, the glacier points, the steaming waterfalls, the meadows, and much, much more. We challenge anyone to look at that and not have a smile break upon their face. After all, it’s the moment where you’re realising just how beautiful your backyard really is.
