Ansel Adams had a classic Half Dome with a nearly full moon shot that he took in 1960. He was a master at bringing out the details in a photographs bright parts, called highlights, and the dark parts, called shadows. The parts of a picture that are between the highlights and shadows are called midtones. Ansel Adams' shot was also done as a vertical, with just the edge of the north side cliff showing along the edge of the frame.
Having been to the top of Half Dome 3 times, we wanted to a get a similar shot, but with one improvement. Before climbing up the cables to the top of Half Dome, you have to go over a smaller feature referred to as the Sub Dome, then you drop into a saddle to arrive at the base of the cables. From Ahwahnee Meadow, you can see the Sub Dome to the left of Half Dome and the saddle between them forms a notch. We've thought for some time that a potentially better Half Dome and moon shot would have the moon rising up out of the notch. In March of 2010, we went to Yosemite with rainbows in Yosemite Falls and moon next to Half Dome shots in mind. It was on that trip that we captured the image above, which was done as a horizontal shot. It turns out that we were standing in almost the same spot in Ahwahnee Meadow where Ansel Adams stood when he took his photo in 1960.
Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.
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