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.