Yosemite — California.

Yosemite. June 17th-19th, 2016.

Ever since I can remember I know I've been wanting to go to Yosemite. A few years back I was browsing around on Flickr and there was this one photograph that caught my eye, it was a waterfall and all I can remember is spending about an hour or so researching about the waterfall I saw moments ago, trying to figure out where it was located—finally I was able to come across some hints that it was from a place called Yosemite. At the time I have never heard of the place so I searched on google images, "Yosemite". That second I told myself, "I need to see this place in person." I didn't spend a lot of time looking at pictures of Yosemite because I thought it was extremely far and that I wouldn't come close in having a chance to seeing it in person; discovering it at a time I wasn't into photography.

Fast forward years later, Yosemite's name decided to visit me once again—finally coming to a realization that this place is in California and isn't far from me at all. The thought of knowing that its about 6 hours away from where I live made me want to visit more than I had previously wanted to. Not to mention, I would come across some crazy photos of Yosemite almost every other week and I had friends tell me that I needed to go and see it for myself because the images never do the place justice.

Finally, I told my friend Manny, "lets go to Yosemite this weekend" and of course, like anyone else, he was up for it. We decided to invite two other friends, Nick and Korey and we instantly planned a trip out to Yosemite for the weekend. For the people who don't know what I shoot with, I carry around a Leica T which was gifted to me by the LeicaCameraUSA team and i'm very fortunate of that. To me the Leica T is very convenient camera considering the size of it and portability but I knew I wanted my Yosemite trip to be worth it and I had to get a camera that was full frame as well as a wide angle lens to capture the exquisite landscape in Yosemite. So, just before our trip Manny and I headed to I.E. Photo Rentals and picked up some amazing gear, I would suggest their service to everyone looking to rent a camera for an adventure or simply your basic daily shoot.

I.E. Photo Rentals supplied me with a Canon 5D MK II with a Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 and supplied Manny with a Canon 6D along with a 16-35mm f/2.8. We wouldn't have produced the type of photos that we did if it weren't for I.E. Photo Rentals. Overall, the trip was absolutely amazing and if anyone is looking to visit Yosemite I suggest you do it as soon as you can, the photos you see do not do it justice. Sleep in a car if you need to because it will be worth it, that's exactly what we did.

Below are some photos that Manny and I would like to share from our Yosemite trip, courtesy of I.E. Photo Rentals.