Vernal Fall
Original Photograph Negative: ca. 1948
Artist: Ansel Adams
Available As
Original Photograph
Original Photograph Negative: ca. 1948
Artist: Ansel Adams
Available As
Ansel Adams made this image around 1948 with a 4" x 5" view camera. John Muir, in his book The Yosemite, described the fall: ‘The Vernal [. . .] is 400 feet high, a staid, orderly, graceful, easy-going fall, proper and exact in every movement and gesture …it is a favorite with most visitors, doubtless because it is more accessible than any other, more closely approached and better seen and heard. A good stairway ascends the cliff beside it and the level plateau at the head enables one to saunter safely along the edge of the river as it comes from Emerald Pool and to watch its waters, calmly bending over the brow of the precipice, in a sheet eighty feet wide, changing in color from green to purplish gray and white until dashed on a boulder talus’ at the base. (TY pg. needed) Approaching the fall via The Mist Trail is notoriously wet – standing in the rain can be drier and Ansel would have faced challenges keeping his equipment dry while capturing this familiar and beloved icon of Yosemite. In past attempts to photograph waterfalls in Yosemite, Ansel would relay that ‘I can clearly recall the continuous shattering sound of the waterfall and the constantly changing combinations of amorphous water masses [. . .] There was a constant change of fast-moving shapes in the water, and gusts of windy spray would frequently force me to keep the camera covered with my focusing cloth. When the spray disappeared, I would uncover the camera and await the precious moment.’ (E pg.16) This image was part of Ansel’s Portfolio 4, published in 1963 , published in Yosemite and the Range of Light, as well as the Special Edition of Yosemite Series. At the end of his life, Ansel communicated the significance of this image by including it as one of the variants in his last major project, The Museum Set.
Ansel Adams made this image around 1948 with a 4″ x 5″ view camera. The hike up the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall is short, accessible, and heavily trafficked. John Muir, in his book “The Yosemite,” described the fall: “The Vernal, about a mile below the Nevada, is 400 feet high, a staid, orderly, graceful, easy-going fall, proper and exact in every movement and gesture …
Though Vernal Fall stands only 317 feet tall, it’s among the most powerful waterfalls in Yosemite. Like Nevada Fall, it’s one of the park’s few waterfalls that cannot be viewed by car from the valley floor. Instead, to feel the mist flowing off its thundering waters, intrepid travelers must hike to its base.
With over 800 miles of trails to choose from in the park, there is one fifty mile loop that holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Yosemite ‘s devoted. It is a route that gives an up close and personal view of the mountains that John Muir dubbed “The Range of Light.”
