Michael Frye has been doing some research and has come up with the best days to catch the “firefall”.
Michael Frye: “My friend and fellow photographer Keith Walklet, who lived in Yosemite Valley for 15 years, told me that he thought the best light was in mid-February, around Valentine’s day. He contended that this was when the sun set through a gap in the ridges to the west of El Capitan, creating the lowest angle of sunlight and the most vivid color. I always felt that the shadow behind the cliff is an important element, so tended to agree with Rowell. But how could we really know? Even if you had the time to observe Horsetail every evening in February, you would need perfectly clear skies for the whole month – an unlikely scenario.
The answer came to me while looking at the Yosemite Association’s web cam on Turtleback Dome. It has a perfect view of Horsetail Fall. Rather than sit and watch the fall for a month, I just had to look at the web cam! Better yet, maybe the Yosemite Association had archived images.”
Nice job Michael.