37.7456° N, 119.5936° W

February 22, 2019

Year after year of visiting Yosemite, I kept hearing about the famed firefall, a time of year when the light at sunset hits Horsetail Falls just right, creating the illusion that it’s on fire.

But to photograph this natural phenomena, you not only have to be in the right place at the right time, you also have to get insanely lucky with weather conditions. So to give myself the best possible chance, I booked a trip for the entire window of time that firefall is possible.

On night three of the attempt, magic happened. Recent snowfall on the cliffs above was blown off by a strong wind. The falling snow, along with the waterfall, was illuminated by a perfect, unobstructed sunset, appearing to be massive, falling flames.

I was staring at it in shock when I noticed a bird flying by, and clicked the shutter at the exact moment the bird looked like it was flying into the flames.

It was a moment in time that transcended reality into mythology.