On the way home from an Eastern Sierra photography workshop in late October I drove through Yosemite National Park. Having just spent the past six days on the go, I was eager to get home and hadn’t planned on stopping along the way. But as I neared the Big Oak Flat entrance station I came upon a grove of dogwoods at the peak of their fall color. The late afternoon sun was peeking through the grove as well, lighting up the beautiful trees with bursts of light. Even though I hadn’t intended to stop, the flaming dogwoods were too pretty to pass up. I found a composition I liked then waited for the sun to slip into a crack between the trees to give me this dynamic burst of light.