Photographer captures "firefall" effect at Yosemite's Horsetail Fall

Raw: Time-lapse of rare firefall in Yosemite National Park

A photographer captured a rare uninterrupted "firefall" at Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park over the weekend.

Horsetail Fall flows over the eastern edge of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. The small waterfall usually flows only during winter and is easy to miss. 

Yosemite firefall at Horsetail Fall. Jay Huang

On rare occasions during mid-to-late February, the mist from the fall can glow orange when backlit by the sunset. The unique lighting effect happens only on evenings with a clear sky when the waterfall is flowing.   

Photographer Jay Huang sent CBS News Bay Area a time-lapse made up of still photographs he took Saturday, Feb. 24, that showed the striking effect. 

According to Huang, the video was composed of 481 still horizontal photos and 708 vertical still photos. He noted that while he had photographed the firefall multiple times over the last dozen years, Saturday was the first time he was able to capture the complete firefall effects in the last 30 minutes of sunset without any obstruction from clouds.

Hundreds of photographers gather in Yosemite Valley every February to try to capture the natural firefall, according to the national park's website.

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