The waterfall dropping down the massive granite rock face of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, known as Horsetail Falls, is not the largest or the most spectacular of the waterfalls in Yosemite National Park, but when the conditions are just right – briefly when the winter’s setting sun is at the right angle, the waterfall appears to be spilling fire, rather than water, into the valley below. For capturing the event in spectacular fashion, the Aperture Award was bestowed upon John Harrison of Sunnyvale California, and amateur photographer, for his “Nature’s Firefall” – a reference to the once common practice of shoving fire pits over the edge at Glacier Point.
The light play only happens at Horsetail Falls if the environment is just right during a few weeks in the winter months when conditions have a chance to align: the angle of the winter setting sun, temperatures have allowed enough water runoff from melted snow, and the sky is cloudless. The amateur photographer credits luck with having been fortunate enough to capture the spectacular event, knowing that so much was outside of his control. Having become engaged to his wife years ago in Yosemite National Park means that it has been a of particular fondness for Harrison, but now having won the award means it holds even more significance and he tries to spend just as many winter weekends there as he does in the summer. He’ll have a chance to spend more time in Yosemite Valley as a result of his award, as the prize allows him to join a workshop of four days with professional photographers in the park as they focus on landscape photography work there.
