In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Mar 24, 2014 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Poppies and canyon oak, Sierra foothills
I made this photograph yesterday in the Merced River Canyon, west of Yosemite. It’s hard to tell here, but I was actually looking straight down a steep hillside toward the oak, using the curving lines of the little gully to lead the viewer’s eye to the tree.
As you can tell from the photo, there are still lots of poppies in this area. Since my last visit, patches of orange have spread up the hillsides further, and while I don’t think this year’s display will approach the vibrance of 2009 or 2012, there are plenty of poppies, and plenty of poppy photographs to be made. The redbuds are also progressing nicely. They’ll probably reach their peak in about five to ten days, but there are many photogenic specimens now.
The poppies may not last long, however. A fairly substantial storm is forecast to reach us on Tuesday night and Wednesday, with half an inch to an inch of rain expected in Yosemite Valley, and up to ten inches of snow above 7,000 feet. Poppies like sun, so the rain is likely to make some of the already-blooming poppies pack it in for the season. There may be some areas where poppies are just starting to emerge that may not be affected, or may even benefit from the rain, but we might not see extensive blooms after this storm. The redbuds, on the other hand, probably won’t be affected by the rain, and should still be great photo subjects for another couple of weeks.
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by Michael Frye | Mar 20, 2014 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Poppies along the Hite’s Cove Trail, Merced River Canyon, Sierra NF, CA, USA
Claudia and I drove up the Merced River Canyon yesterday and found that the poppy bloom has continued to expand since I last checked on Sunday. The flowers near the beginning of the Hite’s Cove Trail are near their peak, as are the other poppy patches down near the bottom of the canyon, especially across the river about three miles east of Briceburg. The bloom is spreading higher on some of the hillsides, and I’m hoping that trend will continue and we’ll see whole hillsides covered in orange like we did two years ago.
Yesterday afternoon Claudia and I walked along the beginning of the Hite’s Cove Trail, where I made the accompanying photograph. I’m always looking for patterns, and found this zigzag design on the steep hillside above the trail. This is one of the few situations where I’ve used straight-on frontlight. I usually prefer soft light (shade or overcast) for colorful subjects like this, but direct frontlight is the next-best thing, since the light is even and nearly shadowless. And since poppies only open when they’re in the sun, frontlight is sometimes the best option.
The redbuds have also made progress. About 60 percent have started to bloom, though most of those are not fully out yet. I’d guess that they’ll peak in a week or two, but you can find some photogenic specimens now.
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by Michael Frye | Mar 17, 2014 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Wildflowers above the South Fork of the Merced River, March 25th, 2009
We’ve had an exceptionally dry winter, but a few well-timed storms in late February provided sufficient moisture for the poppies to start blooming in the Merced River Canyon, along Highway 140 west of Yosemite. I drove up the canyon on Wednesday and saw scattered patches of poppies. By yesterday afternoon the bloom had progressed considerably, with larger, denser swaths of orange on the hillsides.
The best poppy blooms in this area often follow dry winters. Wet winters create a thick, tall carpet of foothill grasses that crowd out the poppies, while drier conditions lead to sparser grasses and more room for poppies. The two best blooms I’ve seen, in 2009 and 2012, both occurred after below-average winter precipitation. It’s too early to tell whether this year will be that good, but the rapid spread of flowers within the last four days is a good sign. If things keep progressing the bloom could be spectacular by next weekend. Or not. I’ll keep you posted!
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by Michael Frye | Mar 19, 2013 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Oaks, lupine, and poppies in the Merced River Canyon near El Portal, CA, USA
Claudia and I drove up the Merced River Canyon west of Yosemite Sunday afternoon on a scouting mission, looking for wildflowers that were rumored to be blooming. And we did find some flowers – despite our dry winter. The redbuds are coming out all along the canyon; most are just budding, but we found some in full bloom, and the rest should get there within the next week or so.
Redbuds have deep roots, so they’re not affected by drought as much as some other flowers. But the poppies in this area are annuals, and dependent on winter rains, so I was surprised to see quite a few poppies blooming up and down the canyon. The display doesn’t approach last year’s, or the even more spectacular bloom in 2009, but any flowers at all seem like a miracle after our dry winter. And who knows – maybe the show will get better.
Right now the most eye-catching hillside of poppies is about a mile east of Savage’s Trading Post on the opposite side of the river. You can reach the base of this hill by driving to the end of Incline Road and continuing on foot for about a mile down the old railroad bed. But getting up among the poppies requires climbing a very steep hillside. (There are directions to Incline Road in my Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, which most of you probably have, but if not the road is easy to find. Just cross the bridge at Foresta Road, about four miles east of Savage’s, then turn left along the river on Incline Road.)
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by Michael Frye | Apr 10, 2012 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Poppies in the Merced River Canyon, Sunday afternoon
It’s turning out to be a great year for poppies in the Merced River Canyon, along Highway 140 just west of Yosemite. While nothing may ever match the spectacular poppy bloom of 2009, this season is coming pretty close. There’s a brilliant display on the north side of the canyon about three miles east of Briceburg, with poppies reaching from the river to the ridge tops. A mile or two further east, around Grandy’s Hill, you can find some great patches of flowers above the road on the south side of the canyon. And there are plenty of poppies at the beginning of the Hite’s Cove trail.
The bloom seems to be spreading from west to east, as it did in 2009. During the last week poppies have appeared in many places on the north side of the canyon from the rock-slide to El Portal, including some of the areas burned in last year’s Motor Fire. I’m hoping that this spread will continue, and we’ll see poppies blooming for two or three more weeks.
Despite the fact that this is mostly unfenced public land, and some of the best poppy displays are on the same side of the river as the highway, access to the flowers is difficult. The hillsides are extremely steep. Not fall-off-and-you’ll die steep (at least in most places), but it requires a lot of agility, stamina, and sure-footedness to climb up many of these hills, and a slip could cause injury. Most people are going to be limited to telephoto views from the road. The one spot with relatively easy access to close-up views of poppies is the beginning of the Hite’s Cove trail.
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