Dogwood, Yosemite (yesterday afternoon)
Claudia and I went up to Yosemite Valley yesterday to check on the dogwoods. We had heard they were a bit late this year, but were starting to come out. And indeed they seem to be coming out quickly, and are close to their photographic peak now. Some are still greenish, a few looked a bit bedraggled already, and many seem to be leafing out quickly, but overall they were quite pretty. Some trees weren’t as full as I’ve seen them in the past, but others had more blossoms than usual.
Dogwoods bloom for two to three weeks, but I think they’re most photogenic when the blossoms are fresh (like now), and before the leaves get too big (which tends to hide the flowers a bit).
In Yosemite, dogwoods grow between about 4,000 and 6,000 feet in elevation, which puts Yosemite Valley (at 4,000 feet) at the lower limit of their range. The high-elevation trees typically bloom a week or two later than the ones in the Valley, so you might still be able to photograph dogwoods blooming until late May along highways 41 and 120, and in the Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias.
Sometimes a cloud deck will sink low enough to envelop those higher-elevation dogwoods in fog. Last May Claudia and I found some wonderfully-dense fog among the dogwoods along Highway 120. I spent an hour or so photographing them, and the fog still lingered, so we decided to hike down to the Tuolumne Grove, where we found more dogwoods in fog. I never got a chance to post those photos last spring, so I’ve included a few below.
— Michael Frye
Dogwood and sugar pine in fog, Tuolumne Grove, Yosemite (5/7/17)
Dogwoods and firs in fog, Yosemite (5/7/17)
Dogwoods in fog, Yosemite (5/7/17)
Dogwood and firs in fog, Tuolumne Grove, Yosemite (5/7/17)
Related Posts: Dogwoods, Fog, and Reflections; A Good Year for Dogwoods
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael 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.
Thanks for the update Michael. I’ll be there all next week. I’m especially interested in the Dogwoods. Based on your experience, can one hike in and out of the Tuolumne Grove this time of year without hiking in snow?
Thanks. 🙂
You’re welcome John. There shouldn’t be any snow in the Tuolumne Grove. There’s not much snow anywhere except at the very highest elevations. But it’s too early for dogwoods there. Give them another week or two.
Thanks Michael. I wasn’t sure how far up or down the snow was after leaving the valley. I may swing by there just before leaving. Especially if 120 manages to open.
Thank you again. 🙂
Beautiful, Michael! When I look at these photos I yearn to be in the Sierra Nevada. My family lives up near Quincy, CA and my sister just told me the dogwood are just starting to bloom there. Thanks for these lovely images.
Thanks Bob!
Rubbing it in. Medical reasons have kept me away from spring in Yosemite for the first time in 10 years. Lovely shots.
But the dogwood here in Yakima are putting on quite a show, albeit without the mountain backdrops. It has been a long time since we have been home in the spring, and other than the reason for it this time, it is nice to see all the orchards and gardens in bloom.
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Aram/misc/ff/St+Pauls+Cathedral-7862-2.jpg.html
Well it wasn’t my intention to rub anything in. Sorry you couldn’t make it up to Yosemite this year, but I’m glad you’re enjoying spring in Yakima.
Of course I was only joking about the rubbing it in.
I got that. 🙂
The photos of Half Dome from Glacier Point are breathtaking! And thanks for the information on the dogwoods. Based on your kind reply to my email last month about the bloom this year, I was able secure accommodations in Yosemite on May 2 and 3 and found the dogwoods just as you described them in your recent e-message. Thanks for that information. And, by the way, the Death Valley photos were stunning.
Thanks John, and I’m glad you were able to photograph the dogwoods!
Hi Mike,
Do you know if the dogwoods are blooming now, 4/22/21?
Thx.
Yes, they’re just starting to come out.