by Michael Frye | Oct 18, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Cottonwoods with a dogwood understory, June Lake Loop
Sometimes it seems as if autumn will never come, but it always does. From all reports there wasn’t much color on the eastern side of the Sierra a week ago, but things have changed, and the aspens are just beautiful right now. Most of the usual spots near Lee Vining have great color, including the June Lake Loop, Parker Bench, Lundy Canyon, Conway Summit, the road to Virginia Lakes, Dunderberg Meadow, Green Creek, and Summers Meadows.
We had a wonderful day photographing all that color. Autumn in this area is just magical. Here’s one photo from the June Lake Loop this morning, and I’ll post more when I get a chance to process them.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 17, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Reeds and reflected trees at Siesta Lake, Yosemite
Good news! Apple approved the update for The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite iPhone app today, so it now works with iOS 5.0 (or any version from 3.1 on). I’m glad that Apple approved the update so quickly; sorry again about the inconvenience.
Meanwhile, autumn has finally begun in Yosemite. Fall color was nearly non-existent a week ago, but every day more leaves are turning. Yosemite Valley is not close to peak color yet, but things are changing quickly, and I think we’ll see some great color within a week. In fact some of the maples are already completely yellow.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 13, 2011 | Announcements
Apple just released it’s new operating system (5.0) for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Unfortunately the new OS causes problems with The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite iPhone app. We have already submitted an update to Apple that will fix the problem, but under normal circumstances it takes a week for Apple to approve this, and I suspect they will be inundated with updates to apps, so it could take longer.
So if you’re planning to use the app within the next week or two, the best solution is to not upgrade to iOS5 yet. When you sync your phone (or iPod or iPad) to your computer, if it asks you whether you want to update, click Cancel or Later. If you’ve already upgraded to iOS5, unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a safe and easy way to go back to iOS4, so you will have to wait for the update to be released.
Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause!
— Michael Frye
by Michael Frye | Oct 12, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Tree, Tunnel View
It rained in Yosemite Valley on Monday afternoon, but my private workshop student Dale and I didn’t mind too much. While we got a little wet, the rain generated beautiful, ethereal scenes perfect for black-and-white photography. To me the mood was reminiscent of those Chinese paintings with misty hills and trees, so I looked for compositions that could emphasize that feeling. Here are a couple of my favorites.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 6, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Aspens near Dunderberg, October 11th, 2010
The first winter-like storm of the season passed through Yosemite during the last two days, bringing over two inches of rain to Yosemite Valley, and enough snow to close Tioga Pass and necessitate R2 chain requirements on Highways 41 and 120 yesterday. There’s no word on when Tioga Pass will reopen; if I had to guess, I’d say sometime this weekend.
Although autumn was off to a late start on the eastern side of the Sierra, some of the higher-elevation spots outside of Bishop already had turned color. A storm like this will usually blow off the leaves that have already changed, and make partially-turned leaves turn brown. The good news is that most of the aspens on the east side were still green, and probably won’t be affected by the storm. However, it will be a week or two before those green leaves turn yellow, and color might be sparse over there during the next week.
The same thing happened last year: a large storm closed Tioga Pass on October 4th, one day earlier than this year. And yellow aspens were scarce for a week or so. But we found some nice color on October 11th, as you can see in the accompanying photo, and even better color a week later.
Meanwhile in Yosemite it’s early for autumn color, and it’s likely to be a couple of weeks before things really start to change. Peak color in Yosemite Valley usually doesn’t arrive until the end of October or beginning of November. I’ll keep you posted on what I find. Another good way to follow current conditions is through the CalPhoto group on Yahoo. And if you’ve been out photographing fall color recently, please let us know what you found by posting a comment!
—Michael Frye
Related Posts: Wild Weather, and the Annual Fall Freakout; A Trip to the Eastern Sierra; Autumn in Yosemite
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author and photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBook Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom. He has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
