Reflections along the Merced River

Last Thursday night a weak storm brought rain and snow to the Sierra. Before going to bed I checked the satellite and radar images online, and it looked like the storm might clear by sunrise, so I set my alarm for some ungodly hour. When the alarm went off I looked at the satellite photos on my iPhone without even getting out of bed. At moments like these, half asleep, warm under the covers, I almost hope those little animated images will show lots of clouds, so I can just roll over and go back to sleep. But alas, it looked like it was clearing. I got up and looked out the window: stars. The only thing worse than getting out of bed in the dark on a cold morning is missing a great sunrise. Time to get dressed.

(more…)

Reflections of aspen trunks and leaves

Here are a few of my favorite images from our trip to the Eastern Sierra last week. These three photographs share some common themes: all have water, and reflections, and are more about colors and patterns rather than any particular subject. In other words, they’re abstract. I tend to see this way—to look for designs rather than concern myself with accurately portraying a subject. If the opportunity to photograph a grand, sweeping landscape presents itself, great, but if not I try to look for less obvious subjects, and sometimes get lucky and find hidden jewels. (more…)

Dogwood near Valley View yesterday

I taught a private workshop in Yosemite Valley yesterday, so that gave me a chance to check on the autumn progress. The big-leaf maples, which often provide the most vibrant fall color in the valley, are getting there; I’d say they’re about 60 percent turned. The best spots for maples right now are across the river from the junction of Highway 140 and the Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120), and along Southside Drive underneath Middle Cathedral Rock (and directly across the valley from El Capitan).

The dogwoods are also changing, though not as quickly as the maples. We saw some nice ones near Valley View, aka Gates of the Valley (Location 5 in both the book and app versions of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite), including the specimen at the top of this post. But there are still a lot of green dogwood leaves, so I’d say they’re about 30 percent turned. The dogwoods at higher elevations, along Highways 41 and 120, and in the Tuolumne Grove, usually turn earlier, so they should be looking good, but I haven’t been able to check them out.

(more…)