This week, my family and I are in California for a family vacation. Our first stop was at Yosemite National Park. On Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to go on an Ansel Adams themed photo walk with my mom. We walked in the valley to some of the best views of the park while learning about Adams as well as a few photo tips.

Adams had a very close relationship with Yosemite, living in the main valley for sixty years, all the while photographing hundreds of sites in the park. His photos are notorious for being clean, simple, and composed of basic shapes to create a very satisfying photograph. Channeling my inner Ansel, I tried to train my eye to look for those shapes and compositions.

Here is a photo I took from in the valley:

One of the guides on the photo walk gave us the inside scoop as to where Adams photographed one of the park’s many waterfalls. After hiking up a very steep incline, we were able to find the rock Ansel Adams sat on to photograph Vernal Fall. It was an incredible feeling to stand where he stood. It was extremely difficult to get a decent photograph because a strong wind was blowing mist from the falls directly onto my camera and, obviously, I did not have the proper equipment to brave the wind and water, so I snapped a few and stashed the camera away.

Here is what I got though:

Having the opportunity to not only photograph such a beautiful place, but to stand where Ansel Adams once did was a surreal experience. I hope to do more activities like this in the future!