Blog

Yosemite National Park

We spent a few days in November visiting Yosemite National Park. We stayed inside the park at the Yosemite Valley Lodge, so we did most of our exploring of the valley on foot. This turned out to be ideal because the park and parking lots were very crowded and the shuttle buses weren’t running. We found the early morning to be the best time for exploring and photography. The crowds were smaller and the light was better for capturing Yosemite’s famous rock formations like El Capitan.

This was my second trip to Yosemite and it was quite different from my first. During my first visit, I spent most of my time hiking which didn’t leave a lot of time for photography. This time around, we didn’t spent much time on the trails so we were able to slow down and really enjoy all the Yosemite has to offer. We woke up before dawn our first morning and caught an amazing sunrise at Tunnel View. We also visited the Ansel Adams Gallery, walked through the Ahwahnee Hotel, and drove to Washburn Point and Glacier Point.

I was a little hesitant about going to Yosemite in the winter because of the shorter days and unpredictable weather. But I’m really glad we went and I’m now hoping we can go back for another visit soon.

Bruges

We spent nearly two weeks in November visiting Bruges, Amsterdam, and Paris. This was our first time visiting Bruges and we really enjoyed the three days we spent exploring the beautiful and charming city. We took a brewery tour at De Halve Mann, wandered through the Wednesday farmers market, and joined a canal tour to take in views of the city from the water. The city’s size makes it an easy place to explore on foot and the cobblestone streets and canals throughout make for great photographs. The next time we visit Belgium, we would definitely return to Bruges. We would also make time to visit some of the cities nearby like Ghent and Antwerp.