Storm clouds over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
Yosemite Valley has been exceptionally pretty lately. Last Wednesday some dramatic clouds rolled in, and it’s been a great year for dogwoods.
The dogwoods in Yosemite are pretty consistent performers. They always bloom, regardless of how wet or dry the previous winter has been. But some years are better than others, and this is one of the better ones I’ve seen recently, as most of the trees have more blossoms than usual. The dogwoods arrived early this year, and all of them are now leafing out, but the flowers were still fresh-looking yesterday. In another week or so they’ll start to look bedraggled in the valley, though they should just be starting to bloom at higher elevations along highways 41 and 120, and in the Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias.
Temperatures are warm for the end of April, and the waterfalls are going strong. The flow will probably peak this week; after that most of the snow will have melted at higher elevations, so the water levels will gradually diminish. The Glacier Point Road is scheduled to open Friday, and the Tioga Road is expected to open May 11th.
I’m starting my Spring Digital Camera Workshop tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll have a great time photographing dogwoods and waterfalls. I’ve already been out scouting and photographing, and you’ll find a few new dogwood images below that I made either last Thursday or yesterday. Also, the image at the top of this post was made last Wednesday from Tunnel View when those dramatic clouds rolled in.
— Michael Frye
Related Posts: Dogwoods and Lunar Rainbows; Light and Mood With Intimate Landscapes
Dogwoods over the Merced River at sunset, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
Dogwood in late-afternoon light along the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
Backlit dogwood, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author and photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBooks Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, and Exposure for Outdoor Photography. He has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
Beautiful as always Michael.
Thanks Marian!
Bravo encore une fois J’aime la photo noir & blanc
Merci Pierre!
That Tunnel View image is beautifully done, Michael! All the elements seem to meld together as if they were meant to be.
Thanks Ken — sometimes things do seem to come together.
Beautiful photographs, Michael. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Ed!
Lovely images Michael! The first image over the Merced River is superb!!
Thanks very much Rachel!
Michael
Great post – thank you!
I wanted to tell you that in late March we were back to Yosemite Valley for the first time since I changed to digital. I’ve had your book for many years when I was a film shooter, but haven’t been to Yosemite for maybe 10 years. I found your app absolutely invaluable in making the best use of our time there. In my younger days I would circle the valley, hoping to stumble onto something that was photogenic and usually missing out. Your App allowed me to carefully study what I wanted to work on and make the best use of my time in a non-hurried and thoughtful way. Thank you so much! I cannot speak highly enough of how much your app contributed to a very fine week in Yosemite in late March this year.
Long-time fan,
Greg
Thanks so much Greg — glad you found the app helpful, and I appreciate your taking the time to let me know!
Love your storm clouds over the valley. Very Nice.
Thanks Tim!
A stunning view made more so by your BW rendition!
How far up the parking lot trail toward Inspiration point were you?
Thanks Chuck! I was right at Tunnel View.
Has anybody visited any of the sequoia groves recently? Any dogwoods blooming yet?
Tony, I haven’t been to any of the sequoia groves, but I know dogwoods are blooming at the same elevation as the Tuolumne Grove, which has – by far – the most dogwoods of any sequoia grove in Yosemite.
Michael, this weekend I’ll be on Glacier Point Road, and hopefully Tioga Road, for the first time this spring. I’ve got your book, of course, but can you offer any further recommendations (or narrow down the options) for those non-Valley areas, right now? Also, I want to let you know that I shot the moonbows at Yosemite Falls last month, thanks to you and Don Olson. Great success! What an adventure — wet, cold, thrilled! Thanks for sharing your abundant local knowledge.
Sylvia, I’m glad you enjoyed photographing the moonbow. I can’t add much more to what’s it the book. Glacier Point needs clouds, so it wouldn’t be my first choice on a sunny, cloudless day. The dogwoods should be nice in the Tuolumne Grove. Unfortunately there probably won’t be much snow in the high country when Tioga Road opens, but there should be snowmelt ponds in Tuolumne Meadows that would provide nice reflections.
I’m really digging that first photo.
Thanks!