As I did another one-day photographic trip yesterday – this one to Yosemite Valley to see autumn colors. Up at 3:15 a.m. and on the road before 4:00 a.m. I arrived at the park entrance at 7:00 a.m., still before sunrise. Since there wasn’t yet enought light to photograph dogwood leaves and other autumn foliage along highway 120, I went ahead to the first view of Half Dome and El Capitan and shot a few images there before heading back up 120 to spend some time on the foliage. Then I headed down into The Valley where I found the foliage in abundance – it was just about as colorful as I’ve ever seen in the Valley.

I started at El Capitan Meadow (after a short snooze to make up for my early rise time) where there are a bunch of really beautiful black oaks in the middle of golden grasses. I spent over two hours working this spot before heading on to the Curry Village area. I left the car here and did the “tourist hike” to Vernal Fall, hoping to photograph a tree at the base of the cliff at the fall. When I got back to car it was later than I expected and darkness was arriving a bit early, so I started back down the valley to try to grab a few late shots, but without a whole lot of success – the high overcast was now thicker and there wasn’t much of a sunset.

The light was challenging all with light overcast and occasionally thicker clouds. This is a mixed blessing – large scale scenic vistas were somewhat obscured by haze and flat light; on the other hand the softer light can work well with foliage and similar subjects.

(I have posted a few examples in my Gallery – This link should get you to several of them.)

A couple notes about Yosemite conditions: The foliage on highway 120 and in the Valley was stunning yesterday. I have a feeling that this is the peak fall color weekend this season. I have a return trip scheduled for next week, but I’ll need to watch the conditions to see if it will be worth it. Also, not sure if it was due to normal atmospheric conditions or the aftermath of the southern California fires, but it was quite hazy in the Sierra.

From Rich Seiling at the West Coast Imaging blog:

Fall Color Alert for Yosemite Yosemite is experiencing a magnificent autumn. The dogwoods are as nice as they get, and are at peak. The oaks and maples are near peak. If you want to see stunning fall color in Yosemite, head up now! The weekend of October 27-28 should be very nice, but leaves can fall quickly once color has peaked!

Follow the link to see a few photos.

The trend toward earlier-than-usual fall color seems to continue here. I’ve visited the Valley at the very end of October or even the very start of November in previous years and found a lot of colorful leaves. Looks like I may try at least a one-day run up and back this weekend.