On 10 August 1984, I was camping in Yosemite Valley prior to going on my first backpacking trip in that national park. This trip was a turning point for my photography. Prior to this I was using a Canon AE-1 that I received from my parents as a college graduation gift with a Tokina zoom lens and print film. For this trip I replaced the Canon with an Olympus OM-4 and some Olympus (Zuiko) fixed focal length lenses. I also started shooting with slide (transparency) film.
Just before retiring to my sleeping bag for the night, I took a last look at Half Dome which was the destination for this backpack. I was struck by the beauty of it glowing violet against a very deep blue sky. I grabbed the camera and quickly set it up on a tripod to capture the moment. This was the first true alpenglow I've seen and it seemed like magic. I let the camera perform a computer controlled exposure based on the aperture I set the camera to which ended up being around twenty seconds long. Photograph by Rick Scott.
Updated: 23 July 2002