Yosemite Photo Conditions
by Michael Frye | Feb 15, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
In my post about Horsetail Fall from February 1st I said that the ideal scenario would include a stretch of warm clear days during the peak window of light. Well we’re in that window, the weather is warm and clear, and there’s plenty of water in the fall, so conditions are perfect. It looks like somebody’s going to get some good Horsetail photos this week. The one caveat is that clouds have partially blocked the light the last few evenings. Even with mostly clear skies, a few thin clouds to the west near sunset can dull the glow. Also, the same conditions that have been bringing lots of fog to the Central Valley can create low-hanging clouds along the ridges just west of Yosemite Valley, blocking the light late in the day.
This warm weather has encouraged some flowers to bloom in the Sierra foothills, but so far I haven’t seen or heard about any poppies. Normally I wouldn’t even be thinking about poppies this early, but last year I saw them blooming on February 21st. Of course, that turned out to be the best poppy year ever in the Merced River Canyon west of Yosemite (see my posts from February, March, and April of 2009), and it’s unlikely that will happen again this year.
by Michael Frye | Feb 5, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Clearing storm, Yosemite Valley
It’s been a strange winter. In an El Niño year like this we would expect to see a lot of rain and snow. But so far it’s been pretty dry, except for that one week in January when it snowed almost nonstop and all those trees fell in Yosemite Valley. It’s been mostly dry since then, but now it looks as if we might be getting into the wet pattern again. A storm arrived last night, and another one is expected tomorrow, with still more precipitation due on Tuesday and again Saturday.
As always, storms can provide great photo opportunities. It looks like the second system will dissipate sometime Sunday, so we could see some nice clearing storm conditions then. But it’s always hard to predict when these events might happen, and timing is critical. It’s ideal if the storm breaks up just before sunrise or just before sunset, but that’s rare. Often they end during the night. If that happens the next morning will frequently dawn clear, but with no mist — and it’s that mist that really makes things interesing.
Let’s hope for a classic Yosemite clearing storm on Sunday, maybe right around sunset…
by Michael Frye | Feb 1, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
It’s February, so Horsetail Fall season has nearly arrived. Herds of photographers will soon be standing tripod-to-tripod hoping to catch that magical neon glow on this ephemeral slice of water.
Conditions have to be just right to capture a classic Horsetail Fall image: Sufficient water has to be flowing, and the skies need to be clear in the west to allow the setting sun to light the waterfall. It looks like the first condition will be met, as there’s plenty of snow on top of El Capitan to feed Horsetail. How clear the skies will be is anybody’s guess at this point. The ideal scenario would be a stretch of warm clear days during the peak window of light, but that seems unlikely in this El Niño winter.
About that peak window: I posted an article on my website last year describing how I used the Yosemite Association’s web cam to determine the optimum window of light for Horsetail Fall. My conclusion was that the peak day occurred about 60 days after the winter solstice, with the best light stretching from about seven days before that to three days after that. I’ve since learned that the earth wobbles a bit in its orbit, so the sun doesn’t set at exactly the same angle 60 days before the solstice as it does 60 days after the solstice. So I now use the angle — the azimuth — of the setting sun as the best way of determining when the peak day will be. This year February 18th comes closest to the ideal angle, with the window of best light stretching from about February 11th through February 21st.
There are basically two good spots to photograph Horsetail: near the El Capitan picnic area along Northside Drive, and along Southside Drive about .8 miles east of the Cathedral Beach picnic area. I prefer being near the El Capitan picnic area, but both locations have their virtues.
Many people have asked me if I’ll be doing one-day Horsetail Fall workshops again this year with The Ansel Adams Gallery, but I’ll be attending the North American Nature Photography Association’s (NANPA) Summit in Reno from February 16-19, so I’ll miss most of the Horsetail Fall craziness. The Gallery will be hosting a couple of afternoon photo classes with their staff photographers during that time, and if conditions are right they will lead their groups to good spots for Horsetail Fall.
Even though I might miss out, I hope we get some clear sunsets between February 11th and 21st, as that would make many other photographers happy! Good luck to all of you with Horsetail aspirations this year.
by Michael Frye | Jan 25, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Sunbeams on El Capitan Saturday evening
Our workshop group had an adventure last week. It snowed off and on (mostly on) from Monday through Friday morning. The power went out Wednesday afternoon, so we did print critiques in the Ahwahnee Hotel’s Winter Club Room. The temperature hovered just around freezing in Yosemite Valley most of the week, so the snow melted during lulls in the precipitation, and by Thursday afternoon there were only about six inches on the ground. But that night the temperature dropped, and Friday morning I measured 16 inches on the railing outside The Ansel Adams Gallery.
A week of heavy, wet snow was apparently too much for many trees and limbs, and during the night Thursday and all day Friday the valley was filled with the sound of cracking, falling branches. Out in Cook’s Meadow Friday morning we could hear and often see limbs or whole trees falling every few minutes. The National Park Service had to close all the roads because they couldn’t keep up with the tree removal; they’d no sooner clear a stretch of roadway when another tree would fall across it. They issued warnings telling everyone to stay inside. Several of my workshop students were evacuated from their rooms at Yosemite Lodge because of dangerous limbs, but luckily there were other rooms available in safer buildings.
My workshop students endured all this without complaint—in fact they were excited to see Yosemite covered in snow. We found ourselves trapped in the east end of Yosemite Valley Friday, but no one minded because it was beautiful. The cliffs and trees—the ones that were still standing—were decked in white, and the sun broke through briefly in the morning. We just had to avoid walking under branches!
The roads reopened Saturday morning, after a closure of more than 24 hours. Saturday afternoon the skies cleared, and we saw so
by Michael Frye | Jan 17, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Spring morning, Yosemite Falls and the Merced River
It may seem strange to show a spring photo in January, but this is a little preview of what Yosemite might look like in May and June if forecasters are right. They’re calling for a very wet series of storms over the next week or two, which bodes well for the waterfalls. It looks like El Nino is finally kicking in!
Usually with a pattern like this there are some breaks between systems, and those breaks often supply some great opportunities to photograph clearing storms. But the National Weather Service is saying that there might not be any gaps in the precipitation for the next five days. I’m hoping for at least a small break or two during my upcoming workshop, but we’ll have to wait and see. It’s going to be an interesting week!
by Michael Frye | Dec 7, 2009 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Rain has turned to snow at my house in Mariposa, elevation 2700 feet. We already have an inch on the ground, and the radar shows more on the way. I just talked with Gabe at The Ansel Adams Gallery and he said they’ve received about four or five inches so far in Yosemite Valley (elevation 4000 feet). This is the first snow of the season—always a welcome event! Wherever you live you can see this fresh snow on the Yosemite web cams.
The National Weather Service predicts 7 to 11 inches of snow in Yosemite Valley today, with the storm ending late this afternoon or this evening. For photography, that makes the timing tricky. If the storm breaks up before sunset there could be spectacular light and clouds late in the day. If it waits until after sunset – which seems more likely – and clears overnight, there will be fresh snow in the morning, but probably no mist, as cold temperatures will inhibit mist formation. It will still be beautiful though.
I photographed this manzanita outside my office in January 2008. If the snow keeps falling it will look like this again soon!
This storm is so cold that it may snow in the Central Valley. Is it snowing where you are?
