Again on the theme of trying to catch the eastern Sierra aspens at their peak, I saw an interesting post today that suggests that some of the trees are beginning to change colors in a significant way. Photographic evidence is included, in the form on a photo in the post and links to additional photos. It looks like the North Lake, South Lake, and Sabrina Basin areas are actually coming into form.
This is only a hunch, but I’m wondering if the peak is going to come a bit on the early side this year – partly due to the stress of a much drier than usual summer and partly due to the cold front that came through last week.
For my part, I may try to get to the Monitor Pass area on a one-day blitz sometime this weekend. The top of Monitor has one of the largest and most accessible aspen stands around, and I’ve often found that it has reached its peak a bit earlier than some of the other aspen locations.
For many of us who photograph California, an important question this time of year is “when and where will the aspens reach their peak?” There are many pockets of astonishing aspen color in the Sierra Nevada every fall, especially in the eastern Sierra. In my somewhat limited experience, the peak typically happens during the first week or two of October, although there can be variations brought on by climate, the passage of storms or a cold snap, along with elevation and specific location within the range.
So I start keeping my eyes open for the first signs of a change when I visit the Sierra as early as September. I was in Yosemite earlier this week, and while I didn’t spend a lot of time in areas where there are many aspen groves, I did pass by a few familiar groves along Tioga Pass Road. Not surprisingly, the aspens have not turned color yet. (Though quite a few other alpine plants are showing definite signs of the autumn change.) However, I did see the first hints in one grove where the veins in some of the leaves were just barely starting to pick up a lighter shade that presages the switch to shades of gold and red.
(One final note on the [Lowepro] Slingshot [200 AW]. I’ve used mine heavily for a year and a half or so and it has generally performed well. However, last week I discovered that one of the main zippers is coming apart where it curves around the “top” of the bag. I’ll have to reserved final judgment until I find out what Lowepro has to say about replacement or repair when I contact them later this month.)
Shortly after I wrote that I emailed the Lowepro customer service department to ask about a repair. “Maury” wrote back immediately with instructions for sending the bag to their service facility in Sebastapol, California for repair. I sent it off last Friday.
Today (only three business days later!) I received a brand new Slingshot 200 AW from Lowepro. Even though I hard removed interior padding and so forth, they sent a full new product package including all accessories and components.
Here is an informal “scorecard” I recently posted at another site – some thoughts about how new Nikon and Canon products stack up against one another.:
1DSMKIII v. ? – Canon wins until Nikon (or Sony?) announces a very high MP FF body
1DMKII v. D3 – Purely on features, I’d say the Nikon wins. The difference in fps is pretty inconsequential, but the D3 wins on most other counts. Of course, in the real world, both of these cameras are extremely powerful and very well suited to the sort of work they were designed for.
5D v. ? – Canon wins since it is the only company with a FF body in the sub-$3000 (more like mid-$2000) price range. While it lacks the speed of the more expensive cameras, it is extremely well suited to the needs of many photographs for whom image quality is paramount.
D300 v. 40D – A slightly awkward comparison since the prices are significantly different. On features, the D300 beats the 40D. In a sense, the D300 is today’s camera, while the 40D would have been an outstanding product introduction… last year.
A few words of explanation…
1. I don’t really place much stock in which camera/manufacturer “wins” or which product is “best.” I really believe that the determination of “best” has more to do with the photographer’s needs than the intrinsic qualities and features of the products produced by top-tier manufacturers.
2. Any advantage that one manufacturer has over the other is likely to be temporary.
3. All of the cameras included above (and others not mentioned) are excellent products, and all can produce fine photographic results.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
