Merry Christmas!

Errata for Digital Landscape Photography Book

After I sent off the text and images for this book some errors crept in. The most prominent is on page 43, where the diagram “Zones and Histograms” shows more dynamic range than any digital camera can produce. I’ve posted corrections on my web site, including an image that you can print and tape over the erroneous diagram on page 43.

My New Book Available in January

My new book, Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, will be available in January. In this volume I look at the techniques of some past masters of landscape photography—particularly Eliot Porter, Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams—and explore how those techniques could be adapted to digital photography today. The book includes some examples of Porter, Weston, and Adams’ work, as well as at least 100 of my own images. This excerpt from the Introduction explains the theme:

I am sure the next step will be the electronic image, and I hope I shall live to see it. I trust that the creative eye will continue to function, whatever technological innovations may develop.

—Ansel Adams

When Ansel Adams wrote this, digital photography was in its infancy. Today most photographs are captured on digital sensors, and film consumption has dwindled. In this digital age, do the landscape masters of the past like Adams, Edward Weston, and Eliot Porter still have anything to teach us? Can the lessons they learned through trial and error with film, paper, and chemicals still apply to photographers checking the histogram on their camera’s LCD or making a Curves adjustment on their monitor?

The answer is yes. When Ansel Adams developed the Zone System with Fred Archer in 1940, he gave photographers a tool great for controlling their images—but only with black-and-white film, and only with view cameras, where sheets of film could be processed individually. Today any photographer with a digital camera can have even more control—even in color.

Such unprecedented power creates wonderful opportunities, but can also lead to confusion. How do you apply these controls? How far should you go? Do you have to start from the beginning? No, because while the tools may be different, the basic principles that Weston, Porter, and Adams developed still apply.

The first chapter covers the technical foundation like image quality, sharpness, depth of field, and exposure, including how to apply the Zone System to digital cameras, and how to expose for optimum results with HDR. Chapter 2 is devoted to light and composition: directing the eye, using contrast, basic and subtle aspects of light, compositional rules and when to break them, patterns, repetition, and capturing a mood. The third chapter delves into the digital darkroom, including editing, developing a workflow, converting color images to black and white, adjusting black points, white points, and contrast, dodging and burning, and expanding the contrast range with HDR or manual blending in Photoshop.

In the end, the book is a comprehensive look at digital photography techniques from capture to print, with Adams, Weston, and Porter’s insights guiding the way. It’s available for pre-order from Amazon.

New Article in Digital Photo Magazine

Back in the dark ages of film, I carried several graduated neutral-density filters. They were both hard to pronounce and hard to use. First I had to decide which one to pull out—one, two, or three stops? Hard edge or soft? Then, after mounting one on the lens, I struggled to adjust it. The transition—the “graduated” part of the filter—could be almost impossible to see through the viewfinder. The light often vanished while I was still fiddling.

With my first digital camera I realized that graduated filters were no longer necessary. I could recreate the same effect in Photoshop, with more ease and control. And now the latest versions of Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw even have built-in graduated filter tools. The photographs above show a before-and-after version done with Lightroom—original on the left, digital graduated filter applied on the right to lighten the foreground.

My latest article in the December issue of Digital Photo magazine (formerly PC Photo), titled Digital Graduated Filters, describes how to use the Graduated Filter tools in Lightroom and Camera Raw, plus how to achieve the same effect with Photoshop. The article isn't on the their web site, but you can find the magazine at newsstands now. I have a related article on my site with some, but not all, of the same material.

Photoshop and Digital Printing Workshop: Making the Complexities Easy to Understand

Do you have a love-hate relationship with Photoshop? You’re not alone. One the one hand, it’s an incredibly powerful tool, capable of doing fantastic things. You know that if you mastered this program you could get the most out of your images and make beautiful prints. On the other hand, Photoshop can be cryptic, complex, and confusing. The learning curve can seem downright crooked.

I was lucky. When I first started using Photoshop in the late ‘90s, I got to spend a weekend with Bill Atkinson, who probably knew more about digital imaging than anyone else in the world at the time (maybe he still does). He started me in the right direction and helped me avoid the confusion caused by gathering random bits of information from books and the internet. Like Charlie Cramer, Keith Walklet, and many other fine-art photographers Bill taught, I still use a variation of the simple, powerful, and flexible workflow that Bill showed me.

I’ve since taught Photoshop (and now Lightroom) skills to dozens of people in workshops for West Coast Imaging and The Ansel Adams Gallery. I try to make the complexities of Photoshop easy to understand. The truth is that Photoshop is simple. Anyone can learn to use it. And if you’re already familiar with it, you can learn to harness its full power. The secret is that you don’t have to deal with most of the tools. If you learn to use a few powerful tools well, you can do almost anything in Photoshop.

My next workshop with The Ansel Adams Gallery, Digital Printing and the Zone System (January 19 - 23, 2010) is designed for people who already have some Photoshop experience but want to master this powerful beast. You'll learn both simple and advanced techniques for getting the most out of your images and making beautiful, fine-art prints. I included the Zone System in the title because getting good exposures in the field is vital to getting good results in Photoshop, so we’ll be working with the entire process, from capture to print. The Zone System also gives us a framework for understanding contrast throughout the workflow—an important tool in this age of HDR. Here’s a partial list of the topics covered:

- Zone System Exposure for Digital Cameras
- Color Management
- Overall workflow
- Raw Image Processing
- Making a Master File
- Using Layers for Flexibility
- Controlling Contrast
- Mastering Curves
- Flexible Dodging and Burning
- Retouching
- Making Difficult Selections Easy
- Converting to Black and White
- Sharpening
- Combining Images for Greater Depth of Field
- Combining Images to Expand Dynamic Range, both with HDR and Photoshop

There’s still space available in the class if you’d like to join us. Click here to register or get more information.

So how do you feel about Photoshop? Do you love it, hate it, or both? And if you’ve learned to love it, how did you get there?

By the way, I’m planning to add more Photoshop tips and tutorials to my web site soon, but for now here’s one tip that you might find interesting, about imitating the effect of a graduated neutral-density filter.

First Snow

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?

Photoshop Tutorials from Rich Seiling

Rich Seiling recently added two excellent Photoshop video tutorials to his blog, Crafting Photographs. Rich is the founder and president of West Coast Imaging, and an expert on all things related to digital printing, so when he gives out free information like this it’s definitely worth checking out.

Moon and Half Dome Encore

Saturday evening I joined dozens of photographers in the Ahwahnee Meadow to see the celestial encore of Ansel Adams’ famous Moon and Half Dome image. Don Olson of Texas State University had predicted that the moon would be in almost the same spot as when Ansel made his photograph in 1960. In the meadow Saturday were two of Ansel Adams’ former assistants, Alan Ross and Ted Orland, seen in this photo (Ted is the one pointing). A large group of park rangers took a group portrait, and Delaware North, the park concessioner, even set up a little stand at the edge of the meadow serving free hot chocolate.

There was just one small problem: no moon! The sky was mostly clear, but a persistent band of clouds behind Half Dome hid the moon. Nevertheless, we all had a great time—the lunar no-show didn’t really seem to matter. I’ve posted more photos on The Ansel Adams Gallery’s Flickr group.

Afterward the Gallery hosted a reception for Alan Ross and his beautiful new exhibit, Visions of Yosemite and the West. I talked with Alan about the contact sheet of images Ansel made that evening in 1960; it’s an unusual glimpse into the thought process of a master photographer. Although this JPEG is small, you can see that Ansel actually bracketed exposures! By four stops! Yes, Mr. Zone System hedged his bets. Wouldn’t you in this situation? Also, he apparently didn’t wrap the roll of film tightly (he made this image with a Hasselblad and 120 film), and there was a light leak. Luckily only the edges were damaged, otherwise the world would never have seen this fantastic photograph.

I was also struck by the different compositions he framed. We tend to think that a master like Ansel would have such a clear concept in his mind that he would only need one composition. And in fact the first frame here is, I believe, the one that became famous (I could easily be wrong about that). But he also pointed the camera at Mt. Starr King, then put on a shorter lens and photographed the top of the Royal Arches cliff and the moon above Half Dome again. If you look closely you’ll also notice that Ansel shifted the camera slightly to the left and right for the first four frames, where he bracketed exposures. Was he unsure about the precise framing? This seems odd since he wrote in Examples that he visualized the cropping from the start. The contact sheet shows that after bracketing those first four exposures Ansel composed an image of Mt. Starr King, then came back to the moon rising above Half Dome, but this time with slightly different framing, pointing the camera more to the left than previously, then more to the right. It seems that he was bracketing compositions as well as exposures.

This is something I do frequently. You can’t always tell what really works by looking through the viewfinder or at the camera’s LCD screen. If I’m not sure whether composition A or B is better, I do both. It’s nice to know that Ansel wasn’t immune from this uncertainty!

What all this points out is that even the best photographers sometimes make mistakes, and aren’t always sure about the best composition or exposure. We’re all striving to get better; some are just farther along the path than others. Ansel certainly traveled farther than most of us ever will.

Giving Thanks

I have a lot to be thankful for. My son started college this year at Humboldt State. He’s adjusted well, is getting good grades, and seems to be having a great time. It’s good to have him home this week. My wife Claudia and I have been happily married for 23 years. We have great friends, live in a wonderful place, and I make my living doing what I love—photography. And I’m very thankful for all of you, my blog readers, workshop students, and fellow photographers. You make my job fun!

Happy Thanksgiving! Our dogs Bear and Rider wish you were here.

First Snow of the Season?

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Yosemite from 4 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday. The snow level is projected to begin at around 5000 feet Friday afternoon, but drop to 4000 feet—the elevation of Yosemite Valley—Friday night. Exact snow levels are difficult to forecast, so a slight fluctuation could mean rain instead of snow, but it seems likely that the Valley will get at least a dusting. Forecasters are predicting two to four inches of snow at 4000 feet, four to eight inches above 5000 feet.

For photographers, the big question is when the storm will clear. It looks like it might clear sometime during Friday night, meaning Saturday morning could be beautiful. Or not. It’s always unpredictable! But whenever it clears there will probably be great conditions for photography.

Yes, There's Still Fall Color in Yosemite

It rained yesterday, so I drove up to Yosemite Valley early this morning hoping to find some mist. And mist there was—not that much, but enough. I spent a couple of hours in the Ahwahnee Meadow, where I made this photograph. As I mentioned in my last post, I like the edges of seasons, and this image shows the fall-to-winter transition, with just a few leaves hanging on to these backlit cottonwood trees.

While these cottonwoods have dropped most of their leaves, elsewhere in the valley many trees are at peak color. This includes most of the oaks and dogwoods, as well as about half the cottonwoods and a few maples. The oaks in Cook’s Meadow and El Capitan Meadow are beautiful right now.

There’s a chance of rain again late next week, and I suspect there will still be some fall color then too.

My Favorite Time of Year

I’m often asked about my favorite time of year in Yosemite. I think the answer surprises many people: it’s right now, in early November. People expect me to say spring, when the waterfalls are flowing, or fall for the color, or maybe winter for capturing snow. In one sense they’re right about the fall color, as early November is often the autumn peak in Yosemite Valley. But even if the color is fading, I still love this time of year. My friend Jeff Grandy says he likes the transitions between seasons, and I agree. The edges are often more interesting than the middle. November is a transition from fall to winter. I can photograph yellow leaves next to bare trees. Ice forms on creeks and riverbanks. The light has reached beautiful, low, winter angles. Sometimes the first snowstorm arrives in November, and rain or snow can leave lingering fog or mist. Heavy frost often blankets the meadows - a key ingredient for this deer photograph, made on November 10th, 2006.

Of course every month offers beauty, and there’s always something interesting to photograph in Yosemite. But if I have to choose, this is it.

What’s your favorite time of year in Yosemite - or, if you don’t get to Yosemite often, wherever you live?

Day of the Dead

Last night my wife Claudia and I attended the Day of the Dead celebration in Hornitos, a tiny town in the Sierra foothills. The Stellar Gallery of Oakhurst hosted a reception in town for a Day-of-the-Dead-themed exhibit featuring work by many talented artists, including our friends Penny Otwell and Ann Mendershausen. At six p.m., under the light of a full moon, over 300 people joined the silent, candlelit procession from the town up a hill to the church and graveyard, where Rev. Steve Bulfer led a ceremony honoring the departed. Then the participants scattered throughout the graveyard to place candles on unlit graves.

This was the first time we had attended this event, and found it truly moving and inspiring. We’ll definitely be back next year. Naturally I had to try to photograph the proceedings, but it proved difficult. It was dark after all! For this image I left the shutter open for three minutes as the processioners marched up the hill, their candles forming a stream of light.

A November Peak for Yosemite Color?

The color in Yosemite Valley has continued to change, but slowly. The oaks, cottonwoods, and dogwoods are still not at peak. The early wave of maples is mostly gone, yet some are still partially green. With warm weather expected throughout the coming week, the second color peak in the Valley may not arrive until this weekend or even later.

My just-completed five-day workshop was a lot of fun. We had a great group of people and lots of sunshine. Friday evening we were able to photograph the moon rising next to Half Dome at sunset, and found some misty meadows and a rainbow on Upper Yosemite Fall the next morning. I photographed these cottonwood trees along the edge of Cook’s Meadow on Saturday.

Yosemite Fall Color Update

I start teaching a five-day workshop tomorrow, so I won't have much time for blogging until next week, but thought I'd post a short note about the color in Yosemite Valley. Since I was here four days ago some of the maples have lost their leaves, while the oaks and cottonwoods continue to progress. It looks like my prediction about two color peaks will come true, as the maples are a little past prime now, while the other trees aren't quite there yet, although they're progressing quickly and should reach full color soon. The cottonwoods are hard to figure out. Some are bare, and others appear to be only turning partly yellow before shedding their leaves.

This photograph of oaks underneath El Capitan was made two years ago. There's still hope that the oaks could look like that this year!

It's cold and windy tonight, and some leaves are dropping. There are likely to be more bare maples and cottonwoods tomorrow, but I don't think the wind will affect the oaks and dogwoods. I'll post another update as soon as I get a spare moment.

Fall Color Update

We faced rain and wind during Monday’s Fall Color Workshop, but we also found fantastic light and clouds, including a rainbow over Mono Lake. The color is changing rapidly over there. Some aspens were stripped of their leaves during Sunday and Monday’s wind storm, but others have turned from partially green to full yellow. There’s still plenty of color around the June Lake Loop and in Lundy and Lee Vining Canyons. I made this photograph near Silver Lake this morning.

Tioga Pass closed Monday and didn’t reopen until about 10 a.m. today. Driving over the pass to Yosemite Valley this afternoon I found Siesta Lake with it’s usual October ring of red blueberry bushes. I made a detour to check on the dogwoods along Highway 120 west of Crane Flat, and found that almost all turned. In some years the majority of them turn red in this area, but this year most are yellow, although I found a few vivid red specimens.

In Yosemite Valley the big-leaf maples are beautiful. Almost all have turned a rich shade of yellow. The best spots are underneath Cathedral Rocks along Southside Drive and near Curry Village, including the old Lower River Campground area.

The other deciduous trees in the Valley—cottonwoods, oaks, and dogwoods—are still partially to mostly green, except for a few strange cottonwoods that are already bare. So it looks like we’ll have two peaks for color in the Valley: one right now for the maples, and another in one or two weeks for everything else.

The waterfalls got a boost from Monday’s storm. While the flow isn’t close to spring levels, it’s high for October. Upper Yosemite Fall receives early morning sunlight this time of year, something it doesn’t get in spring, so this is a chance to get some unusual photographs of it with good light and fall color in the foreground.

Fall Color Lazarus

After the last storm, many people reported finding little fall color on the east side of the Sierras. Aspens that had already turned yellow were stripped bare by the wind, and the remainder were still green. I was worried that there wouldn’t be anything to photograph during my fall color workshop on Monday.

But those green trees seem to have changed color quickly. I drove over Tioga Pass from Yosemite Valley yesterday afternoon, and breathed a sigh of relief when I caught my first glimpse of Lee Vining Canyon: all yellow. I’d say 80 percent of the trees had turned, and the remainder were yellow-green and should change completely soon.

I found a similar story around the June Lake loop, where about 60 to 70 percent of the aspens had completely turned, and the rest were on their way. I made the accompanying photograph in one of my favorite groves there. Both Lee Vining Canyon and the June Lake Loop were beautiful, and are likely to become even more photogenic in the next few days. I’ll be scouting some other locations today, and I expect to find similar conditions among the lower-elevation aspens. Nancy Boman at Murphey’s Motel in Lee Vining (a photographer’s favorite) told me that the color had arrived just within the last few days, which seems to fit the other reports I’ve heard.

On Friday I was in Yosemite Valley for a private workshop. The most striking change was the amount of water in Yosemite Falls and the Merced River. We had nice morning light on the upper fall and photographed reflections in the river. There was also some mist in the meadows. The water level will drop rapidly during the next week, as there’s not much of a snow pack to feed it, and the mist will also probably dissipate as the meadows dry out, but it might last a few more days.

Fall color in the Valley is developing rapidly. The sugar maple near the chapel is gorgeous, and the native big-leaf maples are about 80 percent turned. The cottonwoods are about halfway there. The dogwoods and oaks are just getting started, but it seems like things are moving quickly, so next weekend might be close to peak. Barring storms, the following weekend (two weeks from now) should also be good.

A minor weather system is expected Monday, and temperatures will drop early next week, so that could change the outlook. But fall-color gloom has turned to hope in just a few days.

Two More Workshops for 2010

As I mentioned on October 7th, I’ll be doing two additional workshops for The Ansel Adams Gallery in 2010:

Digital Printing and the Zone System

January 19 - 23

After taking my Photoshop Fundamentals or Digital Landscape workshops, many students have asked for a more advanced Photoshop class. New tools like HDR (High Dynamic Range imaging) have also made me rethink some of my working methods in recent years. So I thought it was time to do a comprehensive course in Photoshop and digital printing for landscape photographers that incorporates these new tools.

As digital cameras and software have grown in sophistication, they’ve given us unprecedented control of our images. Such power creates wonderful opportunities, but can also lead to confusion. How do you apply these controls? Luckily we have something to guide us, because the new working methods bear a striking resemblance to Ansel Adams’ Zone System. The tools are quite different, but the goals are the same: to control contrast—either increasing contrast in flat light, or decreasing it when the light would otherwise be too harsh. In this class we'll investigate methods for mastering this vital aspect of printing, starting with Photoshop's most powerful tool, Curves, and continuing with techniques for expanding dynamic range, either by blending multiple images in Photoshop, or with HDR (high dynamic range) software. But we’ll cover much more than that, including Zone System exposure for digital cameras, and all the essential steps for making great digital prints like color management, dodging and burning, advanced selections, sharpening, and... well you can see a more comprehensive list on the Gallery’s web site.

Hidden Yosemite

July 7 - 11

After moving the workshop to Yosemite Valley on 2009, we’re returning to the beautiful Yosemite high country next year. I’ll be using my 25 years of Yosemite experience to guide students to great locations that most photographers miss. Short day hikes will lead us to cascading creeks, ridge top views, and alpine lakes. We’ll also delve deeply into the mysteries of exposure, light, and composition. Click here to see more details.

Storm Winding Down

The storm was as big as advertised, dropping 5.4 inches of rain in Yosemite Valley. Judging from the Tioga Pass web cam, it looks like they got about a foot of snow. Temperatures actually rose during the storm, so the initial snow there turned to rain. The pass is closed, but the park service is apparently plowing, and it may reopen tomorrow.

The rain ended at about 9 a.m. today, and the Turtleback Dome web cam showed some nice clearing storm clouds and mist. There could be good photo opportunities in Yosemite Valley this evening as well. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to make it up to the valley today. I’ll have to avoid looking at the web cam; if I miss an incredible sunset I’d rather not know! All the moisture in the ground may also lead to mist forming in the meadows on cold evenings or mornings during the next few days.

In addition to lots of rain, the storm brought high winds. I suspect many leaves were blown off aspens on the east side of the Sierra. On the other hand, I heard that the colors are starting to pop in Yosemite Valley. I’ll be up there Friday to see for myself, so I’ll let you know what I find.

Light for Fall Color

More than 20 years ago, when I first got serious about photography, I remember being surprised when photographers I looked up to, like William Neill and Jeff Nicholas, expressed disdain for sunlight and excitement about overcast skies. I didn’t question them, or challenge their thinking, but I was puzzled. Wasn’t shade rather dull?

As I gained experience and photographed more intimate scenes I started to understand what they were talking about. They didn’t want soft light for everything, but preferred it for smaller subjects, especially colorful ones like flowers or autumn leaves. The contrast between sun and shade complicates any photograph, especially forest images with branches zig-zagging across the frame. Contrast also overwhelms colors. Soft light, on the other hand, simplifies any subject, and brings out color contrasts. Colors seem to glow with their own inner light when you take away sunlight and the contrast it creates. The photograph of maple leaves in Yosemite above is a good example of this.

Over the ensuing years I’ve made many of my best photographs in the shade. As I head out to photograph colorful leaves in the Sierra this fall, I’m hoping for overcast skies. Barring that, I’ll get out early and late in the day when trees are in the shade.

Of course there are exceptions, situations where other types of light might be better. Backlight can create beautiful effects with autumn trees, shining through those translucent, colorful leaves from behind and making them glow. This requires the right situation though, where you can place those backlit leaves against a dark background like a shaded hillside or cliff, as in this image of oaks in El Capitan Meadow.

Another exception is big landscapes—yellow leaves in the foreground, for instance, with a mountain in the background. These rarely work on an overcast day. Photographing big subjects usually requires including some sky, and the sky on an overcast day is often a blank, boring, washed-out white blob. It’s better to have some sun somewhere, and some blue sky, or at least small rifts in the clouds. In this photograph of El Capitan I had sunlight on the rock, and blue skies above, while the foreground was nicely shaded. I did some dodging and burning in Photoshop to lighten the foreground and balance shade with sun.

Storm Coming

The National Weather Service is forecasting a major storm for Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada beginning Monday night and continuing through Tuesday night. The Sierra foothills could get two to three inches of rain and higher elevations could get three to five inches, or two or more feet of snow above 9000 feet. Here a link to the NWS forecast for Yosemite, and their Special Weather Statement.

It's likely that Tioga Pass will close, possibly for several days or more. It's difficult to know what the effect will be on fall color. The good news is that this storm will be warm, so shouldn't cause leaves to freeze, wither, and turn brown. But high winds could strip some trees that have already turned. During or just after the storm the rain will enrich the color in moss and leaves. I took advantage of such wet conditions when photographing the oak trees above in Yosemite Valley several years ago.

Plot Twist for Yosemite Photographers

Sunday’s storm added a twist to this year’s fall color story. In my post from September 30th I waxed optimistic about the how the weather conditions—a warm September followed by a cold spell at the beginning of October—might lead to great fall color like we had in 2007. But there’s cold and there’s really cold. Scientists say that the best color comes from sunny days and cool, but not freezing, nights (see Wikipedia and The Buffalo Museum of Science). Temperatures definitely dropped below freezing all over the Sierra on Sunday, as the snow level was down to 5500 feet, and probably reached freezing each subsequent morning in most places above 5000 to 6000 feet.

What usually happens when a cold and windy storm blows through (like we had Sunday) is that trees that have already turned will drop their leaves, and some leaves that are starting to turn will wither and turn brown. I expect that’s already happened to many of the high-elevation aspens in the Eastern Sierra. The good news is that most of the lower-elevation aspens, and virtually all of the deciduous trees in Yosemite, were still green, and were probably unaffected by the storm. The cold weather should start all these trees turning quickly, but during the coming week or so there might not be much color anywhere, as trees that had turned will be bare or withered, and trees that were green will need a week or two to arrive at their peak color. But I’d guess we’ll see some good color among the lower-elevation aspens on the east side in one to two weeks, in the higher-elevation dogwoods in Yosemite (Tuolumne Grove and along Highways 41 and 120) also in one or two weeks, and in Yosemite Valley in two or three weeks. Barring further storms that is.

Since I haven’t been to the east side lately, I’d love to hear from anyone who has, especially if you’ve been there since Sunday and can tell us whether the those high-elevation aspens are bare or withered. Here’s one report from Dan Mitchell that seems to confirm my speculation that some of those upper-elevation trees are past prime.

Two New 2010 Yosemite Photo Workshops

I'll be announcing two additional 2010 workshops with The Ansel Adams Gallery soon—stay tuned for details.

First Autumn Storm

The first significant storm of the season rolled into Yosemite early this morning, dropping about a quarter of an inch of rain in Yosemite Valley, and enough snow above 6000 feet to close the Tioga Pass and Glacier Point Roads and prompt a chain requirement on Highway 41.

The afternoon brought sun, then showers, then sun, then showers, with the pattern continuing until sunset. I found myself at Tunnel View yet again, watching and waiting as several promising breaks in the clouds fizzled. Near sunset I drove through the tunnel to get a view to the west, and saw clear skies near the horizon. The sun would drop below the clouds within minutes.

Back at Tunnel View the scene was gray, the parking lot almost empty, and the rock wall devoid of tripods, but I set up and waited. A few minutes later a faint sunbeam penetrated the valley floor. Gradually the light grew more intense and I composed several frames, including the one above. The parking lot had filled up and half a dozen tripods had joined mine.

Night Meeting

Our mutual interest in night photography led me to cross internet paths with Lance Keimig many years ago—in the late '90s if I recall correctly. We tried to meet on many occasions, but somehow could never make our schedules fit together. We finally arranged to meet at Olmsted Point in Yosemite for a night photography session on Wednesday (two days ago), and it actually worked! Lance and I, along with his co-workshop-instructor Scott Martin, spent a few chilly but enjoyable hours discussing night photography and business (always a popular subject for professionals), and making some images, including this one of a leaning juniper.

Night photography seems like a narrow niche, but there's a surprising amount of diversity. Lance has a very different style from mine. His softer palettes and black-and-white treatments contrast with my bold colors. Lance often includes buildings or other man-made objects in his work, while I usually photograph natural scenes. You can see some of Lance's work on his web site, and more of my night images in my night portfolio.

Another Great Fall?

Fall seems to be progressing at a typical pace in the eastern Sierra. You can find links to various fall color reports in Dan Mitchell’s blog.

Autumn of 2007 was exceptional. The dogwoods around the 5000 to 6000 foot elevation in Yosemite were unusually red, as you can see in the photo above, made along Highway 120 west of Crane Flat in October of 2007. A week after making that image I met a ranger on my way down to the Tuolumne Grove and asked her about the color. She said that conditions were perfect, since we had had a warm September followed by a cool October.

We’ve had a warm September this year, but yesterday the temperatures dropped off a cliff. Monday’s high in Yosemite Valley was 87, Tuesday’s 65. Thursday and Friday are supposed to be slightly warmer, but then the weather is expected to cool off again. Could we have another great fall?

I’ve tried to find information that would back up the ranger’s claim that a warm September followed by a cool October brings good fall color. A Wikipedia entry discusses the anthocyanins that produce reds and purples, and says that “when the days of autumn are bright and cool, and the nights are chilly but not freezing, the brightest colorations usually develop,” but nothing about the effect of warm temperatures followed by cooler weather. If anyone can point to better sources of information about this topic, please let me know! Otherwise we’ll just have to wait and see.

Ansel Adams Gallery Exhibit Continues Through October 4th

There's still time to catch my Color, Light, and Form exhibit at The Ansel Adams Gallery. It will up through October 4th, so if you're visiting Yosemite before then please stop by. The show includes lots of new work, including Willow Leaves and Reflections above.

Early Fall Color Reports

Some fall color reports are starting to trickle in. Dan Mitchell summarized some of them and offered good tips about finding the latest information on his blog. I'll second his recommendation to check out the CalPhoto discussion group on Yahoo. My wife and I made our annual trip to the Millpond Music Festival (wonderful, small, family-oriented festival) this past weekend, and on the way back we drove up to Convict Lake. There's not much color there yet—just a little bit way up high. We saw a few patches of color here and there from Highway 395, all at high elevations. This is typical for the third week of September, so autumn in the eastern Sierra seems to be on a normal time schedule for far, meaning the first good color will probably arrive in about a week at the higher spots.

More Amazing Student Photos

I've posted more student images from June's Hidden Yosemite Valley workshop and July's Full Moon Night Photography workshop. I'm constantly amazed by the level of talent people bring to these classes, as in John Robert's photograph above of a misty sunrise from Swinging Bridge. Click here to go to my workshop page, then scroll down to see a list of workshop slide shows.

Autumn in Yosemite

As the days get shorter and cooler, the photo opportunities in the Yosemite area get hotter. It's time to take a look at what to expect during the next few months.

September

You won't find much autumn color in Yosemite before October, but the indian rhubarb in Bridalveil and Leidig Meadows can add an early splash of yellow, as in this photo from the west end of Leidig. Near the fall equinox on September 22nd, and for a couple of weeks afterward, the sun sets at a good angle for Tunnel View, lighting both El Capitan on the left and Cathedral Rocks on the right. The two or three weeks before the spring equinox are even better, as there's usually water in Bridalveil Fall, but fall can be great in the right weather conditions, like last year when I saw the rainbow at the top of this post.

On the east side of the Sierra Nevada the high-elevation aspens usually start turning yellow in late September. The Bishop Creek area, west of Bishop, and Convict Lake, just south of Mammoth Lakes, are two of the early season hot spots.

October

In a typical year, the aspen color show progresses down the mountainsides on the east side of the range and reaches the lowest elevations near the third week of October. There's no real peak, because the timing of the best color depends on the location. I prefer photographing the larger trees at lower elevations, so the third week is often my favorite time, but there's usually plenty to photograph earlier in the month as well. Some of my favorite spots are Lundy Canyon, Lee Vining Canyon (above right), and the June Lake Loop.

The maples, dogwoods, cottonwoods, and oaks in Yosemite Valley usually turn a bit later. The peak color typically arrives around the end of October or beginning of November. Dogwoods can can often be found turning gold or even red by mid-October at higher elevations along Highway 41, Highway 120 west of Crane Flat, and in the Tuolumne Grove.

Blueberry bushes lining the shores of Siesta Lake along the Tioga Pass Road also turn red and orange near the middle of the month (below). From Taft Point, a one-mile hike from the Glacier Point Road, the late-afternoon sun strikes El Capitan at a great angle.

November

This might be my favorite month in Yosemite Valley. The peak autumn color frequently arrives at the beginning of the month and yellow and gold leaves often linger for weeks afterward. Frost and ice begin forming in the meadows and along the creeks and rivers, and sometimes an early snowfall spices up the landscape. Sunlight has already reached winter angles, raking across the face of Half Dome in the late afternoon and turning El Capitan gold at sunset.

For more detailed information, including directions to most of the locations mentioned here, pick up a copy of my book The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite.

New Fall Color One-Day Workshop

The Ansel Adams Gallery has just announced the new one-day fall color workshop that I'll be teaching for them on October 19th. I'll be taking students to some of my favorite aspen groves on the east side of the Sierras near Mono Lake. For more information visit the Gallery's web site.

2010 Workshops Announced

The Ansel Adams Gallery has announced their preliminary 2010 workshop schedule. I'll be leading the Spring Yosemite Digital Camera Workshop, May 5-9, and The Digital Landscape: Autumn in Yosemite, October 27-31. We'll be adding more classes as we firm up the details, so stay tuned.

Night Photography Workshop

With the road closures and smoke from the Big Meadow fire, I didn't know what to expect during last night's Full Moon Night Photography Workshop. We had our share of smoke, but it seems that when one photographic door closes another always opens. From our perch on Sentinel Dome we watched the sun turn into a red fireball as it set through the smoke, and later saw the scene above—the misty peaks of the Clark Range and Mt. Starr King underneath a smoky orange moon. We light-painted every suitable tree and ended up thoroughly enjoying ourselves despite the fire.

Tioga Road Closed by Big Meadow Fire

Smoke from the Big Meadow Fire has reduced visibility on the Tioga Pass Road and forced its closure. The Big Oak Flat Road between Yosemite Valley and Crane Flat (Highway 120) has been closed since last Wednesday.

If you 're planning to head to Yosemite you should check current road conditions by calling 209-372-0200. The best information about the status of the fire, including maps and photos, seems to be at the Incident Information System web site.

The photograph above was made last year during the Telegraph fire as smoke drifted up to Yosemite from Mariposa. The trees you see were actually burned in 1990 during the A-Rock fire. This area burned again last week when the Big Meadow fire got out of control; I guess enough brush had grown since 1990 to fuel the new fire.

I posted this photo to show that despite the smoke, there are still good photographs to be made in Yosemite. Any unusual conditions can provide wonderful opportunities. Here's another example on The Ansel Adams Gallery's blog.

Nice Review of The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite

Joe Decker posted a nice review of The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite on the photocrati blog.

Last Night's Reception

The reception for my latest exhibit, called Color, Light, and Form, was held last night at The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley. I got to meet some nice people—thanks to all of you who attended. I know many folks couldn't make it because of the Big Meadow fire; in fact El Portal was being evacuated at the time! El Portal seems safe for the time being, so that's good news, but the Big Oak Flat Road between Yosemite Valley and Crane Flat is closed, and likely to remain so for at least a few days. You can find more information about the fire on the park service's web site and the Yosemite Blog.

Photographer's Guide Available Again!

The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite is back in stores! Amazon doesn't have it yet, but you can order online through The Ansel Adams Gallery. You can also pick up a copy in Yosemite at the Gallery or next door at the Visitor Center.

The Wildflower Season

Back on June 15th I wondered whether the unusually wet early-summer weather might provide us with a better-than-average summer wildflower season. In short, the answer turned out to be no. I'd rate the bloom as about average this year. But an average flower year in the Yosemite high country is still very nice! I made the image above—including corn lily, lupine, paintbrush, yampa, cow parsnip, and fireweed—near the Glacier Point Road on August 1st. Let's hope for a wet winter and an exceptional wildflower season next year.

Color, Light, and Form Exhibit at The Ansel Adams Gallery

My next exhibit at The Ansel Adams Gallery, called Color, Light, and Form, will be on display from August 20th through October 4th. A reception for the artist - yes, that's me - will be held on Friday, August 28th, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The Gallery is located next to the Visitor Center in Yosemite Valley. Hope to see you there!

We're still designing the show, so I don't know exactly which images will be displayed, but there will be a lot of new work, almost certainly including Late October Aspens, June Lake Loop, above. Let me know if you have a particular favorite, old or new, that you'd like to see.