A snowy Valley View, taken when we arrived around 2:45pm

Bridalveil falls surrounded by snow

Snow covered half dome, from tunnel view

Snow covered cliffs and Yosemite Falls, taken from Swinging Bridge

More snow on the cliffs in Yosemite

A snowy Valley View

Snow covered cliffs. Taken from Valley View

Do you think this looks like El Capitan's Bra? or her sunglasses?

A black and white version of a snowy yosemite

A slightly wider view of the Yosemite valley view sunset. I liked how you get more trees in this but mostly I loved the glow on the rocks on the left!

On the top of my photography bucket list has been to witness and photograph a snowy Yosemite. This year I've paid close attention to the snow in Yosemite and finally during my Christmas break I had my chance to see Yosemite covered in snow! A giant storm had just hit the Eastern Sierras and dumped about 10 feet of snow (in fact, Kirkwood received 7 feet in ONE DAY!). Willie, Alan, Sammi and I planned on arriving just as the storm cleared. Unfortunately by the time we rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle and made our way through chain control and into Yosemite most of the storm had gone. The radar showed more clouds coming and we held our breath that sunset would be nice. After visiting several stops around the Yosemite Valley and running into a couple other photographers that we knew we settled on returning to Tunnel View for sunset. Joined by a gazillion other photographers (or a "meat market" as Breezy would call it) we witnessed a beautiful sunset. Although the clouds did not light up with much color there was an absolutely beautiful stripe of color that appeared on El Capitan, as some clouds made enough room for the light to seep in. This evening turned out to be pretty much everything we asked for: a snowy white Yosemite, some color in the sky, a mark of light on El Capitan, and low fog creeping into the valley. It was quite a spectacular moment and I was glad I could share it with a number of great people! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 42mm, f/11, 1/15 sec, ISO 100 No Filters, No HDR 3 exposure manual blend for increased dynamic range

A selective color version.

Black and white version of the scene at Yosemite. Fog rolls into the valley.

Snow, fog, and beautiful light on El Capitan. Sunset casts Half Dome in a yellow hue as the clouds cover Clouds Rest (quite aptly named)