Yosemite is packed with people all season, and, and most of all, it is gorgeous.
Surprisingly, it takes less than 4 hours to get to Yosemite from San Francisco Bay Area, but it requires a lot of planning. Here is something that you should know about Yosemite
Plan ahead
Yosemite camping is very limited. Some major holiday can be an year in advance, and, for early bird campsite, you definitely should get there before 7AM. I know it is hard, but plan ahead if you wanna camp in Yosemite. Outside of Yosemite, there are free public campsite, but there may not be restroom. You definitely bring shovel and toilet paper if you are camping outside.
When to go?
Yosemite is excellent most season, but you defintiely should go Spring to early Summer. The biggest reason is waterfall. It dries out. I went there in August, and some of the waterfall was gone. Especially because California is in drought recent years, you should plan Spring to Early Summer.
Early spring is cool for photos because you can get cool shots of snow, cloud, and fog covering mountain.
What to bring?
It gets very cold, so I suggest you bringing enough jackets and blankets. if you are going there in spring, rain gear and chains are necessary. Chains are very expensive if you have to buy up there. I think I spent $70 in April.
Where to take photos?
If you are looking for wide shots of waterfall and mountains, you don't hike drive on Yosemite roops because the closer you get, the harder to get nice wide shots. If you wanna get shots like Ansel Adams, there is a tour you can schedule. They will take you to some spots that he shot his photos. It is very cool because you meet some other photographer during tours.
If you wanna enjoy hike, I do Vernal fall/Nevada fall hike and Bridalveil Fall. This is mild hike, and you get pretty close to fall.
If you are a hard-core hiker, you can do Half Dome hike and El Capitan hike. It is pretty long hike, and you need wide angle lens, for sure.
Camera equipments?
rain gear. the closer you get to fall, the more mist you get. Bring something to cover your camera.
ND Grad filter. This is the place you wanna bring as many filters as possible. It's a valley/mountain combo, so you will be glad to have a filters.
These are all shots off driving roops.
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