Yosemite Firefall

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Photographer captures gorgeous 'firefall' at Yosemite - For just two weeks every February, the sun sets in such a way that Yosemite's Horsetail Fall appears to be a river of fire, ablaze with vivid reds and oranges.

Photographer Sangeeta Dey wanted to capture the beauty, and on her Instagram account wrote that she found a spot under a thorny bush at 2 p.m. a few days ago and waited for the sun to set. In order for the magic to happen, skies have to be clear and the temperature has to be high enough to melt snow, and once Dey realized the water was turning into fluid fire, she "couldn't believe" what she was seeing.

"For 10 minutes, all of us sat there mesmerized by this spectacle," she wrote. "When it ended, a few of us had tears in our eyes, while some were clapping, and others were just ecstatic to finally get a chance to see it after trying for years."

Firefall: This is a picture of the Horse tail waterfall in Yosemite. Every year for two weeks in February, the sun sets at a certain angle that illuminates the waterfall in luminescent orange and red making it look like a liquid fire. There are a number of conditions that need to be met to make this happen (enough snow, warm temperatures to melt that snow, and clear skies). I met photographers who said that they have been coming for 11 years only to see this happen 2 or 3 times. When the fall started glowing, I could not believe what I was seeing. For 10 minutes, all of us sat there mesmerized by this spectacle. When it ended, a few of us had tears in our eyes, while some where clapping , and others were just ecstatic to finally get a chance to see it after trying for years. #westcoast_exposures #usinterior #visitcalifornia #wildcalifornia_ #lonelyplanet #superhubs #500px #igdaily #ig_today #ig_impulse #ig_exquisite #princely_shotz #jaw_dropping_shots #artofvisuals #natgeoyourshot #igpodium #sfgate #nikon #yourtake #topshelf_shots #abc7now #firefall #rawcalifornia #optoutside #neverstopexploring #nbcbayarea #earthpix #igworldclub #beautifuldestinations #awesomeearth

A photo posted by Sangeeta Dey (@sangeetadeyphotography) on Feb 16, 2016 at 7:23pm PST