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!