Snow-covered California black oak, late autumn, Yosemite, Tuesday morning
I’m in Dallas today teaching a Lightroom workshop for the Sun to Moon Gallery. We have a nice group of people and we’re having a great time, but meanwhile, back in Yosemite, another storm is arriving. I won’t get to photograph this one, but did get to photograph the previous one last Monday and Tuesday.
That storm featured a brief, misty clearing on Monday morning, a dusting of snow on Monday night, and a couple of surprises. It began on Sunday night, but early Monday morning the satellite and radar images showed that there might be a break around sunrise before more precipitation arrived that afternoon. So I drove up to Tunnel View early, and sure enough, it did clear. It wasn’t the most colorful sunrise, but there was plenty of beautiful mist, as you can see in this photograph:
Misty sunrise from Tunnel View, Yosemite, Monday morning
Then I headed down to the valley, photographed some more misty scenes near the Ahwahnee Meadow, and as I was walking back to my car heard the agitated chatter of small birds coming from a nearby group of trees. From my years photographing wildlife in Yosemite Valley I thought that probably meant that these birds had found a pygmy owl. Pygmy owls often hunt during the day, and their prey sometimes includes small birds, so when the birds find a pygmy owl they’ll “mob” it, surrounding the owl and making a big racket so that every bird in the area knows where the owl is.
It took awhile, but I finally spotted a well-hidden owl about ten feet up in a small incense cedar, sleeping. I approached within 15 feet, and the owl seemed completely unconcerned. I spent about 20 minutes photographing it, and only once did it open its eyes, slightly – a moment captured in this photograph:
Saw-whet owl roosting in an incense cedar, Yosemite, Monday morning
I assumed the whole time that this was a pygmy owl, but Chuck, in the comments below, informed me that it was a saw-whet owl, and I’m sure he’s right. Since pygmy owls are much more commonly seen than saw-whet owls in Yosemite I assumed it was a pygmy owl, but it was rather large for a pygmy owl.
Rain returned Monday afternoon, then turned to snow in the evening, leaving about two inches on the valley floor. I made another early-morning trip to valley, and this time Claudia came with me. The storm had cleared during the night, leaving skies clear for several hours, and temperatures below freezing. That meant there was no mist, as mist requires liquid moisture in the atmosphere. But it was great to see snow in the valley – the first snow of the season.
We drove around the valley looking for trees with fall color and snow. Somewhere along Southside Drive I spotted a patch of orange in the forest. At first I thought it was a cone or flag, but then I realized it was fire! The park service had set a prescribed fire in that area a few weeks earlier, and apparently it wasn’t completely out yet, despite the rain and snow. A log was still burning, surrounded by snow. Claudia asked if I wanted to stop. Yes!
It turned out that the fire was burning inside a hollow log. With the log surrounded by snow, it looked like a natural, outdoor fireplace. And just like a fireplace, it warmed us up on that cold morning. Here’s one of my photographs, along with Claudia’s iPhone video:
Hollow log burning after a prescribed fire, Yosemite, Tuesday morning
We did eventually find some of those snow-covered autumn leaves. The image at the top of this post shows an oak with unusually vibrant colors (for this year), and you’ll find more photographs with snow and fall color below.
Those splashes of color were rather scarce on Tuesday. We were surprised to see so many deciduous leaves that were still green – on November 10th, after a dusting of snow. The dogwoods were still mostly green, though a few had almost completely turned, finally. The maples were a mix of bare, green, and a little yellow. We saw many green oaks as well, along with a few that had good golden-yellow color, and a bunch with muted brown leaves, or a mix of brown and green and gold.
With all those green leaves, we could see some fall color for several more weeks in the valley. But it’s such a strange year that it’s hard to tell.
In the meantime, the storm today is predicted to bring rain at first, but then the snow level is expected to drop down to valley floor level (4,000 feet) at the tail end, possibly dropping another dusting of snow. Since I’m not there, I’m counting on some of my readers to capture it. Please post a link to your photos in the comments, and show me what I missed. 🙂
— Michael Frye
Lone autumn maple among snow-covered incense cedars and ponderosa pines, Yosemite, Tuesday morning
Elm tree in autumn after a dusting of snow, Yosemite, Tuesday morning
Related Posts: An Early Winter Storm; A Stormy Afternoon, and a Fall Color Report
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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.
Michael, I am incredibly jealous of your ability to pop into the valley when opportunity presents itself. Those shots are beautiful. Where do you generally get you satellite and radar imaging from? Are you reading that all from the NOAA page?
Thanks John, though my intent is not to make anyone jealous. 🙂 I do get my satellite images from the National Weather Service, though I look at radar on the Intellicast website and on the Storm app on my iPhone.
Thanks Michael. Maybe you should offer a workshop or an app devoted to how to read and understand weather data. 🙂
I was wondering if you had gotten to the valley for that snowfall. May there be many more! And while there wasn’t color at sunrise, that misty view is fantastic. That pygmy owl must’ve been such a treat! Thank you, Michael, as always, for sharing your experiences.
Thanks so much Vivienne!
Great blog. Very informative!
Thank you Vishwanath!
Thanks for sharing your photos, all of which are remarkable and awe inspiring. I particular enjoyed your shots of the owl and the burning log in the snow, together with the very enlightening narrative that went along with it. I was fortunate enough to be there during this last storm too and the combination of the storm’s fog and snow plus the fall foliage (even though it’s slightly underwhelming) made for a very fun trip. As always, thanks for your generosity in sharing your reports, experience and knowledge with all of us 🙂
Thank you CK, and I’m glad you got to photograph that storm.
Michael, such stunning photos!! We have been to Yosemite twice many years ago, the first time around 1990, and the second time around 2005. Both times during the summer (probably July and August timeframes). We absolutely loved it and would love to travel out that way once more – especially in we could be there in more than one seasonal timeframe. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos of that awe inspiring area, one of the prettiest on the face of the Earth!! I do also envy your proximity to the area and ease at which you must be able to go into the park when you can. We live in Kentucky, so it’s a long plane ride out that way and then a rental car, etc. to be able to journey into Yosemite. Thanks again, Jules
Thanks very much Jules, and I hope you get to return to Yosemite sometime soon.
The owl is absolutely wonderful! I also like the elm a lot, and the burning log image has a certain primal power.
Thanks Jackson!
Michael-
Awesome set of images. To mirror other commentators, the owl & the burning log are great.
Something about being in the woods after the first snow fall that is almost mystical. The woods are quiet (except for the birds), your footsteps are muffled, and the light dusting of snow still allows one to see the colors.
Thanks for posting.
Thanks Bill, and nice description. I like the snow too.
I really enjoy your work Michael, I really must visit the blog regularly. Interestingly enough, my own blog featured a first snowfall image this week, though, my background story was flu-shortened.
Doug
Thank you DJ!
Love your posts this year as it really does help do some planning from back here in Virginia. Hopefully there will be more snow this year. I really like your elm tree. It feels like playing around a bit more with this could make it a real stunner, esp by pushing the highlights and the shadows in the foliage a bit. Great image.
Thanks Ed!
Saturday night (Nov 14) the storm hit San Francisco and it rained for about three or four hours. Sunday morning it was bright and clear in San Francisco and my wife and I left for Yosemite.
When we arrived in the valley at 7pm it was snowing moderately. The storm cleared during the night. Monday morning I went to Valley View and Tunnel View for sunrise but there were only a few clouds and the light was not very good. The valley had about two inches of snow on the ground and the trees were lovely. That evening at Tunnel View there were a few clouds and some scattered ground fog, nothing spectacular. Tuesday morning there were no clouds and the evening was a grey out. Wednesday morning we walked along the trail from the Pahono bridge to Bridlevail falls.The dogwoods were mostly yellow-green turning directly brown, with a few leaves already fallen. The oaks were mixed yellow and brown with many leaves on the ground. In spite of no fabulous light in the valley, it was wonderful to be there in the snow! My only keeper photo of the trip was of the sunset Sunday evening, taken along Highway 49 as we drove through the cusp of the storm. Here is the link to see it:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7868706@N02/23172895121/in/datetaken-public/
Tony, I’m glad you got up there, even though you didn’t get the clearing storm you were hoping for. There’s another storm due next week. 🙂
Hi Michael, I love your photography and this is a very nice set of images as always. I’ve been dreaming for years about photographing in Yosemite and last week finally my wife and I had a chance to spend some days in the Valley . It is an awesome place, probably the most beautiful on Earth. We experienced a nice weather, there were snow on the top of the cliffs and beautiful sunsets so we enjoyed our stay there and we visited the Ansel Adams Gallery as well. We hope to get back to Yosemite soon. 🙂
Thanks very much Gabor. I’m glad you got to photograph my favorite place! 🙂