Half Dome accompanied by a nearly full moon

Yosemite National Park's most famous landmark, Half Dome, accompanied by a nearly full moon in spring. On Half Dome, the small feature that protrudes from the top edge is called "The Visor." We've been to the top of Half Dome three times and each time we've heard people refer to that feature as "The Diving Board". But the "Diving Board" is a feature along the same ridge as Half Dome but is well below and not part of Half Dome. Ansel Adams took a famous photo of Half Dome from the Diving Board called "The Monolith."

To get this image, we stood in the Ahwahnee Meadow 2 nights before the actual full moon hoping to line up the eastern edge of Half Dome with the moon as it rose. A night or two before the full moon is often best for these kind of shots because the sun will still be up enough to light the scenery you want to include with the moon. Especially in a steep place like Yosemite Valley, waiting until the night of the full moon to try a get a photo that combines the landscape with a rising moon will be more difficult since the sun will have already set by the time the moon is high enough to be seen with the landscape.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

A female elephant seal flips sand onto its back to stay cool, at Año Nuevo State Park, California

This female elephant seal was resting at Año Nuevo State Park, in California. Because elephant seals have so much blubber to stay warm in the cold water, they tend to overheat when they're not in the water. To keep cool, elephant seals will try to find cool spots to lie on and will flip sand onto their backs to create a little shade on their skin. 

We observed these elephant seals during a guide hike conducted by docents with the state park. During the breeding season for the elephant seals, hikers must go with a guide on an organized trip to protect the seals. Our guide had a lot of great stories to tell and photos of himself and the elephant seals when he used to do research on this species. He even had a picture of himself using an elephant seal as his pillow while he took a nap.

The elephant seal species was nearly wiped out by sealers, but their population has come back strong. One interesting aspect of their recovery is that historically they would only breed on islands, not on the mainland. Now they are hauling out on the mainland for breeding. So what prevented them from breeding on the mainland in the past? The California grizzly bear, which is now extinct due to human activity.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!