California black oaks in El Capitan Meadow, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

California black oaks in El Capitan Meadow, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

I’m flying to Dallas today to teach a Lightroom workshop for the Sun to Moon Gallery, but I wanted to give you a quick update on the fall color in Yosemite Valley. And there’s still plenty of color. The yellow big-leaf maples are mostly gone, and the dogwoods are also past peak, but the black oaks were close to peak when I left the valley on Saturday, and the cottonwoods were still at least 30% green. Leaves tend to linger on the oaks, so I expect both the oaks and cottonwoods will look good for at least another week.

I made the photograph above last Wednesday, and if you look closely you can see that there’s still a touch of green in some of the leaves. The image of cottonwoods below was captured on Thursday, and again you can still see some green leaves. It’s not uncommon for these trees to peak in early- or even mid-November in Yosemite Valley. Fall isn’t over yet!

— Michael Frye

Cottonwood trees along the Merced River, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Cottonwood trees along the Merced River, autumn, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Related Post: Fall Color Report

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Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to YosemiteYosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael 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.