Mariposa Grove – Michael Rappa

California Trip, 2014: Redwoods in Yosemite

August 9, 2021 Michael Rappa

On my way out of Yosemite National Park I stopped for a hike through the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias (aka redwoods). They don’t grow as tall as the coastal redwoods, but they grow wider–some are so massive that their branches actually look like trees themselves. It’s impossible for any photo to do these behemoths justice, but the people in some of the shots below, and the fact that many of the large surrounding trees look like sticks next to the redwoods, help to provide a sense of scale.

Click on any photo to open a gallery.

Yosemite National Park – October, 2014

I thought this was a redwood pine cone because of how enormous it is, but redwoods apparently have small cones, so I’m not sure what type of tree this belongs to.

Yosemite National Park – October, 2014

View More Photos from Yosemite

Yosemite 2014: The Movie (revisited)

April 25, 2015 Michael RappaLeave a comment

I just discovered that my previously posted Yosemite movie was banned by YouTube from being playable in almost every country in the world, including the United States. Apparently that’s what happens when you use Pink Floyd as your background music. Oh well, lesson learned; back to using classical music in all my videos. This new version features “The Unanswered Question” by Charles Ives, though apparently even classical music occasionally runs up against the long arm of the copyright police–one of my previous videos using a Holst piece is banned in Germany.

Anyway, here again is the compilation of all videos taken during my two-day visit to Yosemite National Park back in October 2014. You can view the HD version by selecting 1080p from the quality settings of the video.

Yosemite in Panorama and HDR

December 9, 2014 Michael RappaLeave a comment

Here are some panorama and HDR photos from my recent trip to Yosemite National Park in California. The tree pics are vertical panoramas taken in the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias (redwoods), though it’s hard to get a sense of scale since most of these photos don’t have people in them. Click on any image to view a larger size.