Kings Canyon Scenic Byway

• John James Audubon.

| facebook | 500px | ferpectshots |

When you combine travel with landscape photography, it often gives rise to interesting problems and opportunities. Half the fun is in coming up with solutions to a challenging situation. I have talked about some of the significant challenges that we have faced, but today I want to talk about a less challenging but a nagging issue that I have experienced. The fundamental differences between destinations on the east vs. west coast are accessibility. In the west coast, some of the more exotic destinations are quite a bit separated from the rest of the civilization.

I have noticed that every once in a while, we come across these spots that have fantastic potential but are awkwardly located, making them logistically challenging to match with a golden hour shoot during an extended road trip. An excellent example of this is McWay falls. The fall is located closer to the northern end of Big Sur, making it your first destination on a Big Sur trip from the Bay area. When coming from LA you often reach it way late. So, logistics wise it makes sense to make it a sunrise spot, but the entire falls are in the shadows during sunrise ruining any chance of a good shot. It took me six years to get the logistics right and get the sunset shot of McWay falls that I have always wanted.

Today’s spot is a similar location, which is located right before you enter the mighty Kings Canyon, National Park. Since the Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks are geographically challenging to reach, the only option to shoot this spot is by staying within the park or by starting your trip super early. Due to the lack of facilities, the accommodations inside the park gets booked up quite in advance, making it often very expensive as well. I am yet to manage a golden hour shoot here, but the view is just so majestic, I find myself returning to this stunning location every time we come this way.