Yosemite & Digital Photography

I’ve backpacked and dayhiked in the Sierra before with digital cameras, but this is the first time I’ve been to Yosemite Valley with one. I took my Olympus E-510 10mp SLR with my new 12-60 (24-120 35mm equivalent) lens. Digital cameras are fun!

First, there’s the ability to get instant feedback, via the little "instant replay" image that pops-up once you’ve taken the picture. Then there’s the ability to review the day’s photos late at night in the tent. Both of these review functions are—to someone from the film era—mind-boggling.

Further, there’s the comfort factor in realizing that you’re taking grain-free images, enlargeable up to 16x20 inches. And that you’re taking these images with a light-weight camera. I’ve used a view camera before in the Yosemite gloom, and there’s just no comparison in the flexibility that the lighter-weight camera give you. Yes, maybe the 4x5 negatives would yield prints larger than 16x20, but I’ve never made such prints.

My technique still needs considerable refining. In avoiding the dreaded highlight "blowouts," I fear that I went too far in the opposite direction, resulting in too-dark images. (Which, of course, means greater "noise." Jeez.)

Photo: Tenaya Creek—Yosemite, 2008