El Capitan, California black oaks, and the Merced River, 2007

El Capitan, California black oaks, and the Merced River, 2007



Since my post last week the fall color has multiplied, and it’s beautiful in Yosemite Valley right now. There are still some green leaves, so the color overall is just short of peak, but it’s already one of the best autumn displays I’ve seen in the park, with the black oaks, big-leaf maples, dogwoods, and cottonwoods all turning simultaneously. The oaks seem to be particularly nice this year. The accompanying photograph was made in 2007, but the oaks look just like that now.

Forecasts call for colder and wetter weather to arrive today and tomorrow. Precipitation is expected to be light, but temperatures will drop, and we may get a dusting of snow on those yellow and gold leaves Friday or Saturday. If the leaves survive the cold and possible wind we should have great color through the weekend and into next week.

—Michael Frye

Related Post: Autumn Progress 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 YosemiteYosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBooks Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, and Exposure for Outdoor Photography. 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.