Let there be light: Photographing Yosemite's elusive 'Firefall'

Wonderful to see everyone excited about this event. But how many actually know the history of it. The "real" Firefall was an event that started in 1872 and continued to January 1968.
From Wikipedia, "The Yosemite Firefall was a summer time event that began in 1872 and continued for almost a century, in which burning hot embers were spilled from the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park to the valley 3,000 feet below. From a distance it appeared as a glowing waterfall...."

The present event is just a shadow of what that actual event used to be, for nearly 100 years. I never saw it and actually only became aware of it because there was a group named Firefall named after the actual firefall event in Yosemete. They brought out an album in 1978 with the same name. I liked them, and still do, and the picture on the album was really cool, I thought. If interested, you can find the Wiki articles on the event and the group. Just type in the obvious.

I find this absolutely fascinating because as a small boy in school here in Scotland in the year 1939, (I was five at the time) my teacher told the class of a wonderful trip she and two friends made to this place where a waterfall of fire took place at nightfall. The place was Yosemite. It took me another forty years to get there with my wife and only when I listened to the nightly talk by one of the park rangers did it come back to me. What a trip they'd made. Train, then ship across the Atlantic to New York and presumably train again to Cal. then up to Yosemite. I subsequently contacted a descendant of the teacher and she confirmed it was indeed Yosemite.
I've made several trips there but I'm still in awe of their achievement.

Must be a rare photo.

"... photographers come in droves to view and photograph this special occasion, which makes Yosemite very, very busy. Each year, Horsetail draws more and more visitors from all around the world."

"Hidden treasure" indeed :-)))

People who already took photo of that unique event in yosemite, now they can print it, frame it and hang it on the wall (no matter how many times it has been photographed that place). Then every time they see their picture, they will think about the beautiful experience they had.
For those who complain here that it has been photographed millions of times and its nothing special, thats the only thing they can do: see others people photos and not enjoying their own pictures.

I remember a photography forum thread complaining about people interacting with nature and spoiling the photographers' ability to get a good shot. About 20 obsessed photographers were lining up to photograph a beautiful river somewhere in the U.S. Some tourist jumped in and had a swim, and all the photographers were annoyed because it ruined their shot. To me this shows the insane obsessiveness and hypocrisy of some nature photographers. I would have ignored the photographers and had a swim too (except not in the U.S, because every second person in the U.S. has a gun).

and Galen Rowell still got the best shot... on Kodachrome

All those photographers into the story, either pro or amateurs, hobbyists, share the same passion, and feeling, to capture a very special fleeting moment, it must be emotional overwhelming to see this "firefall" with ones own naked eyes.
A true huge reward for waiting such a long time for this precious moment.
US residents really have one great nationalpark there.

I wonder if the black bears at Yosemite get together once a year to watch a herd of humans mate with strange, three-legged birds with very large beaks.

I camp at Yosemite several time a year from spring to fall because I enjoy hiking there. Maybe I should do it in winter too to see if I can capture the fire fall. But I doubt I have the patience it demands. Nay, I will stay with the long winding and grinding trails. :)

Personally, I'd like to see this phenomena. Obviously not that many people get to see it. In that sense it is a privilege. Would I photograph it? Absolutely, I carry my camera everywhere and photograph what I want because I want to, not because I'm trying to sell the image. Selling an image is just the icing on the cake of doing something I love to do.

I don't see the point, since it's been done so many times.

It could also be done in Photoshop if you're simply tying to get a photo of water that has the illusion of being orange. Either way it's just an illusion.

The bounty of information from the internet is a double edged blade; once upon a time you'd be able to take photos like this without having to worry about mob crowding.