In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Oct 22, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
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.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 20, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Aspen-covered hillside
Conditions on the eastern side of the Sierra haven’t changed much since my post two days ago. In other words, the autumn color is still wonderful. I’ll just add that we got a closer look at Dunderberg Meadow, and it’s a bit past peak, but still beautiful. We also checked out Lee Vining Canyon today, and there’s plenty of color there, though some groves are still green. Around the June Lake Loop, the beautiful hillside between Grant and Silver lakes is about half green, but the aspens in the nearby valley floor have all turned, and some are even bare.
Aspens, willows, and an American coot
There should be plenty of color for at least the next week. Some aspens will lose their leaves, but the green ones will turn soon. I’ll be in Yosemite Valley tomorrow, and I’m anxious to see how much the color has changed. I’ll let you know what I find!
Here are a couple of images from the last few days. I’ll post more when I can.
—Michael Frye
Related posts: Autumn Has Finally Arrived in the Eastern Sierra; App Update is Ready; Fall Color 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 Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBook Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom. 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.
by Michael Frye | Oct 18, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Cottonwoods with a dogwood understory, June Lake Loop
Sometimes it seems as if autumn will never come, but it always does. From all reports there wasn’t much color on the eastern side of the Sierra a week ago, but things have changed, and the aspens are just beautiful right now. Most of the usual spots near Lee Vining have great color, including the June Lake Loop, Parker Bench, Lundy Canyon, Conway Summit, the road to Virginia Lakes, Dunderberg Meadow, Green Creek, and Summers Meadows.
We had a wonderful day photographing all that color. Autumn in this area is just magical. Here’s one photo from the June Lake Loop this morning, and I’ll post more when I get a chance to process them.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 17, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Reeds and reflected trees at Siesta Lake, Yosemite
Good news! Apple approved the update for The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite iPhone app today, so it now works with iOS 5.0 (or any version from 3.1 on). I’m glad that Apple approved the update so quickly; sorry again about the inconvenience.
Meanwhile, autumn has finally begun in Yosemite. Fall color was nearly non-existent a week ago, but every day more leaves are turning. Yosemite Valley is not close to peak color yet, but things are changing quickly, and I think we’ll see some great color within a week. In fact some of the maples are already completely yellow.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 6, 2011 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Aspens near Dunderberg, October 11th, 2010
The first winter-like storm of the season passed through Yosemite during the last two days, bringing over two inches of rain to Yosemite Valley, and enough snow to close Tioga Pass and necessitate R2 chain requirements on Highways 41 and 120 yesterday. There’s no word on when Tioga Pass will reopen; if I had to guess, I’d say sometime this weekend.
Although autumn was off to a late start on the eastern side of the Sierra, some of the higher-elevation spots outside of Bishop already had turned color. A storm like this will usually blow off the leaves that have already changed, and make partially-turned leaves turn brown. The good news is that most of the aspens on the east side were still green, and probably won’t be affected by the storm. However, it will be a week or two before those green leaves turn yellow, and color might be sparse over there during the next week.
The same thing happened last year: a large storm closed Tioga Pass on October 4th, one day earlier than this year. And yellow aspens were scarce for a week or so. But we found some nice color on October 11th, as you can see in the accompanying photo, and even better color a week later.
Meanwhile in Yosemite it’s early for autumn color, and it’s likely to be a couple of weeks before things really start to change. Peak color in Yosemite Valley usually doesn’t arrive until the end of October or beginning of November. I’ll keep you posted on what I find. Another good way to follow current conditions is through the CalPhoto group on Yahoo. And if you’ve been out photographing fall color recently, please let us know what you found by posting a comment!
—Michael Frye
Related Posts: Wild Weather, and the Annual Fall Freakout; A Trip to the Eastern Sierra; Autumn 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 Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBook Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom. 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.
