Ice mollusk, Tenaya Lake
If you’ve been wondering if I’ll ever do another photo critique, the answer is yes—look for one tomorrow. Sorry it’s been so long, but it’s just been a crazy busy fall!
In other news, both the Tioga and Glacier Point roads in Yosemite are open. This is rare for December, but the weather has been so dry and mild that there’s little snow up in the high country.
Any unusual conditions bring interesting photo opportunities, and the cold temperatures combined with lack of snow means that there are some great ice formations along the Tioga Road, like this natural ice sculpture I photographed at Tenaya Lake about 10 days ago.
Also, I hear there’s some great ice skating up there on Tenaya, Tioga, and Ellery Lakes! There’s no sign of snow in the forecast, so these roads should stay open for at least another week.
Another item: congratulations to friends of this blog David Hoffman, Jon McCormack, William Neill, Penny Otwell, and Greg Russell for having their work accepted into the 27th annual Yosemite Renaissance exhibit. It’s nice to be in such good company! And an extra congratulations to Jon, who won a “Commended” award in the prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year competition. Great stuff Jon!
And another thing… the end of the year is approaching, so once again I’ll be asking for your help in choosing my best images of the year. Look for something within the next couple of weeks.
I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season, and not rushing around too much getting ready!
Michael — It’s been good to get to know your work through your blog this year. Thanks for all the work that goes into it. Have especially learned from the critiques. Best wishes for the Holiday Season to you and your family. Frank
Thanks very much Frank – I really appreciate that. I hope you have a great holiday season too!
If this is right ?http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/tiogapass.htm
We are getting close to a record.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Holiday season and a great new year.
Duncan
Duncan, I’m sure that is right, and we could be headed for a record, though all it takes is one storm to close it. I remember the previous record day well. It was, of course, the first day of the new millennium, and my wife and son and I took advantage of the pass being open to watch the sun rise over Mono Lake. Then we headed back over the pass, and it closed later that day.
Hope you and yours have a great holiday season too!
Sad to say, but this dry weather is getting me really depressed. I’m getting the chance to make my first trip to Yosemite in 48 years (!), but, owing to family considerations, the earliest I could make it was the end of June. Based on previous “La Niña” years, I was thinking that the water flow would still be good for then but, from the sound of the weather so far, it’s seeming like there may be little or no water flow by then. I have your iPhone app — if things stay this dry, should I be looking at July or August recommendations for next June instead?
James, La Niña usually brings drier than normal winters. In an average year late June still has good water flow, though past peak. If it’s a dry winter (and it’s still too early to tell) the waterfalls could be pretty low by late June. In July and August they’ll be even lower.
Maybe things are different down in California but, here in Washington, last year was considered a “La Niña year,” and I recall it was quite a bit wetter later in the year both here and where you are. I guess I can only hope for the weather pattern to change. (By the way, I meant that, if it’s dry, I’d need to use the July and August recommendations for June shooting; I wouldn’t schedule a trip that late in the summer.)
Incidentally, I posted a review of Light & Land on my blog (http://www.http://ravenfallsphotography.com/wordpress/?p=182), in case you’re interested.
La Niña usually means drier than average winters in California, and wetter than average winters in the Pacific Northwest. Having said that, you never know, and last year was one of the wettest on record in Yosemite, despite or because of La Niña. But this year certainly seems to be sticking to the from of being drier than normal. Precipitation has been almost nonexistent so far.
Sorry I misunderstood the other part, and yes, in a below-average year June will be more like July or August of an average year.
Thanks for the great review of Light & Land! I really appreciate that. You make some excellent points about the “straight-out-of-the-camera” myth. For one thing, with a Raw file, there is no such thing as a straight image – the Raw data has been interpreted in some way by Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture, or whatever software is being used to view the Raw file. Different software will produce different looks, even at the default settings with no additional changes. So which is the “correct,” unmanipulated version? There isn’t one.
Looks like we have a record Michael, unless it closed last night! Happy new year all.
Well the road is still open, so it does seem to be a record. And no snow in sight!