In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Oct 29, 2015 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Sunset light, Tunnel View, yesterday evening
Some interesting weather passed through the Sierra Nevada yesterday. It so happened that I had an errand to run in Yosemite Valley, which gave me an excuse (as if I needed one) to go up there and check on the weather. After taking care of the errand, Claudia and I ended up at Tunnel View, where we waited out a thunderstorm. I tried to take a nap in the car, but was rudely awakened several times by loud claps of thunder. After the rain stopped I went out to the viewpoint and waited for the sun to break through, joined by a number of other photographers, including some friends and acquaintances. Tunnel View is, by virtue of its popularity, the social gathering place for photographers in Yosemite.
Finally, just before sunset, the sun did break through and light El Capitan (see the photograph above). It’s funny how all those photographers can suddenly become quiet as they concentrate on composition and camera settings.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 25, 2015 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
El Capitan and the Merced River, autumn, Yosemite Valley. This photograph from 2006 shows big-leaf maple leaves covering the foreground shoreline.
On my way home Thursday I drove the loop around Yosemite Valley to check on the fall color progression. The first thing that struck me was the cottonwoods, which have all dropped their leaves without turning yellow. Is this a sign of the drought? Maybe, but I saw the same thing happen in 2011, after one of the wettest winters and springs on record for Yosemite Valley. There are a lot of factors that affect fall color, so it’s hard to pinpoint one cause.
Some of the black oak leaves also seem to be turning brown. I’d say half of the oaks look fine (though still mostly green), and half appear to be wilting.
On the other hand, the big-leaf maples and dogwoods look pretty normal, though they’re turning late. Many maples sport a few brown leaves, but that’s actually pretty typical. The rest of the leaves are either healthy green or starting to turn yellow, and once they all turn yellow you won’t notice the brown leaves. Most of the dogwoods look quite normal overall, though they’re turning late.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 22, 2015 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Aspens along a creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada, from last Friday
After nearly a month on the road in Colorado and the eastern Sierra, Claudia and I are heading home today. But before making the drive I thought I’d post a brief report about fall color on the east side.
Colder weather and wind this week have caused many leaves at higher elevations to drop off, yet there are some beautiful patches of color at lower elevations, along with many still-green aspens. Lower Lundy Canyon (up to the end of the dirt road) looks really nice right now, with about 70 percent of the trees turning, 20 percent green, and 10 percent bare. The June Lake Loop from Grant to Silver lakes has plenty of color, but is still only perhaps 50 percent yellow and orange, with 50 percent green. Lee Vining Canyon is maybe 60 or 70 percent green, with the rest either yellow, bare, or brown. Up a little higher, Conway Summit has some large bare patches, but a few groves there are still quite colorful.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 6, 2015 | Travels and Stories
Aspens near Red Mountain Pass, Colorado, USA
We’ve had a wonderful time in Colorado – again. The color hasn’t been as good as last year, but all the locals said that was one of the best autumns they’ve seen. This year the color was shaping up nicely around the San Juan Mountains in the southwestern part of the state, but then last Friday strong winds blew the leaves off many of the aspen leaves. Some areas seem to have received especially strong winds, leaving either bare trees or green ones, and few yellow leaves. But other places weren’t affected much at all, so there were still large swaths of spectacular color.
Here’s a photo from last week near Red Mountain Pass, outside of Ouray. This was made before the wind storm, but this is a high-elevation, early-changing spot, so some of the leaves had already fallen. Sometimes, however, a mixture of colorful leaves and bare trees is more interesting than just a mass of color; in this case the bare patches helped to make the diagonal lines of color stand out and create a pattern.
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by Michael Frye | Sep 30, 2015 | Travels and Stories
Autumn afternoon in the mountains near Telluride, Colorado, yesterday afternoon
I had planned to go to the Alabama Hills or Death Valley for last Sunday’s lunar eclipse, but high clouds streamed in from the Pacific and threatened to block the view. So at the last minute Claudia and I decided to go further south, toward clear skies that were visible on satellite photos. We ended up in Joshua Tree National Park – along with many, many other people who seemed to think this was a good place to view the eclipse.
They were right of course – it was a great place. And the skies cooperated for the most part. I captured a sequence that I think will work, but I haven’t had a chance to process it yet, because the next morning we started driving to Colorado. We loved our autumn visit last year, and just had to go back. Colorado welcomed us with some nice clouds on our first afternoon; I’ve included one image from that evening above.
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