Hi, hello, how are you?
21 February, 2019 & 29 December, 2020
Welcome to my website! I’ve been working hard to put it together, and I hope you like it!
My name is Anna Smits. I’ve been living in Yosemite Valley for about four and a half years now, and I picked up my first DSLR in late 2018. I’ve always resisted photography—it’s an expensive rabbit hole to fall into, and I always had a disdain for those who live life’s most exciting moments behind a lens. But as I’ve matured—ew, really?—I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s just not that cut and dried. I love being able to look back in time at the memories of my photos, and I did try to have a good point-and-shoot when I went on vacation. But alas, it died, and the opportunity arose to pick up the first DSLR. I figured I should probably know how to properly use it if I was going to have it, and off I went down the rabbit hole.
The first thing I had to realize was that my photography game was s—t. Rule of thirds? Straight horizons? Depth of field? And what is this ISO and f-stop nonsense? It was like learning how to drive a manual transmission (which I would actually go on to do about six months after obtaining the camera) after being raised on automatic. Can’t I just, you know, point…and…shoot? Can’t I just…press…the…gas?
I gradually learned and gathered a basic photography kit together, shooting in the amazing wonderland where I’m blessed to live. A few months after I got my DSLR, I struck out on snowshoe with my husband to pursue the famed Horsetail Fall “Firefall”. That year (2019) there were new parking restrictions, basically pushing all the spectators into one small viewing area along Northside Drive. Now, I’m not a big fan of crowds (don’t bother remarking on the irony of living in a tourist destination, I joke about it all the time), so I didn’t want to shoot from Northside. I wanted to get further back and a little bit off the Valley floor. We tromped about a mile from the Chapel along the Valley Loop Trail and found a small clearing where three other photographers had set up. While my husband set up his hammock, I set up my tripod, intimidated to be among people who probably—no, definitely—knew a lot more about what they were doing and had better equipment.
As I’ve discovered many times since that event, Yosemite is full of blessings, and sometimes you’ve just got to be in the right place at the right time—and that was the happy situation I found myself in on 21 February, 2019. That evening, not only did we actually have a waterfall to observe, but the wind blew from an abnormal direction, blasting loose snow off of the mountain summit and directly into the path of the setting sun’s light. The effect from our perspective was a misty waterfall image three times as long as the waterfall normally appears, set ablaze by the dying sun, the rarest Firefall I could ever imagine capturing. And I was there to shoot it, with my bargain-bin tripod and my second-hand crop-sensor DSLR with wide-angle lens.
The company in that little clearing oohed and aahed at the spectacle, excited murmurs burbling around me, and smiles that felt wider than our faces.
When I pulled the images onto my computer later, I shared a couple, posting the JPGs from the camera; but, upon inspection, I realized I’d captured more than I thought. A raven was smack in the biggest, brightest part of my extended Firefall. Words failed me then, and they fail me now, when I try to express my thoughts about this photo.
The photo has come a long way from the straight-from-the-camera JPG I initially shared. As I’ve learned how to take properly composed photos, and what lighting and weather conditions to chase, and how to work the settings of a camera to take a photo properly, I’ve also learned more post-processing skills. The debate about post-processing is a quagmire of ugly opinions and hypocritical judgements that I’d rather not take part in; but suffice it to say, pretty much all DSLR photos require a touch of processing fresh out of the camera to bring them back to life. As I’ve gained post-processing skills during my journey to be a photographer, I’ve revisited the Raven and Firefall photo several times. I consider it to be my first successful photo. Could it have been better composed? Probably. Did I have all the settings right? Please, I still can’t get them right. But I know it’s a winner, and it just needed a little love to recover from my amateur lack of skill. After a year and a half, getting a flow down and a familiarity with the necessary programs, I revisited it again in early December this year (2020) and I believe I have finally brought this photo back to life.
The only thing left to do once I had this photo properly treated was to sell it. Full circle now—welcome to my website!
Throughout my development into a photographer, I’ve been sharing my images on social media. When Yosemite closed to visitors for three months this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I began sharing to Yosemite fan pages, narrating what the Valley was like while the world outside sheltered in place. Pleasantly, people reacted very well to my stories, making a point to comment about them on my photos. I suppose the writing comes from the fact I majored in English (Creative Writing) in college, and as I’ve put together my website, I’ve chosen to incorporate that aspect here as well. This blog will be devoted largely to my snapshot stories; and while I can be longwinded, hopefully consequent posts won’t be as lengthy as this one. I may try to post about previous photos, though I think my main focus will be largely geared towards new photos as I get them processed and posted.
Let me know what you think of the site! Critiques, comments, questions, issues—I’d love to hear from you. Until next time! I hope you are able to climb mountains and get their good tidings.