Dogwoods and mist, Yosemite Valley, yesterday afternoon
I assumed that the dogwoods in Yosemite would have peaked and started to whither while we were down in Death Valley. But upon our return we heard reports that the dogwoods were still good. Yesterday afternoon was wet and showery, which seemed like perfect conditions for photographing dogwoods, so Claudia and I drove up to Yosemite Valley, and found that yes, the dogwoods were still good – great, in fact.
Only one dogwood was clearly past peak, and that tree is always an early bloomer. The rest were rather mixed, with some fully leafed out, others with only small leaves, and even a couple with newly-emerging greenish blossoms. The cool and showery weather this past week apparently has helped preserve the flowers, and made this a long-lasting dogwood bloom. But what really struck me yesterday was how full they were. Many trees were just overflowing with blossoms, and we saw many strikingly-beautiful specimens.
I suspect, however, that they won’t last long. The forecast calls for warm weather this week, and the dogwoods that are fully leafed out may start to whither. But the trees that haven’t progressed as far should still be in good shape for another week or so. Also, higher-elevation dogwoods along Highway 41, Highway 120, and in the Tuolumne Grove should last even longer. We didn’t have a chance to check those spots yesterday, but typically the dogwoods up there bloom one to two weeks later than the dogwoods in Yosemite Valley. Of course this has been anything but a typical year, so you never know, but that’s what I’d expect.
As an example of how long the dogwoods have lasted, the photograph below, made yesterday afternoon, is the same tree I photographed on April 8th (second image from the bottom in this post). Back then the blossoms were just emerging, but it still looked fresh yesterday, with small, unobtrusive leaves.
So there’s still time to photograph dogwoods in Yosemite Valley, but go soon!
— Michael Frye
P.S. As you’re probably aware, Adobe released Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC last week. I’ve been testing this new version, and will post my first impressions soon.
P.P.S If you’re in Yosemite Valley you should check out the newly renovated Ansel Adams Gallery. It’s always a great place to find inspiration, and the staff photographers are very knowledgable about current conditions.
Dogwoods, mist, and ponderosa pines, Yosemite Valley, yesterday afternoon
Related Posts: Early Dogwoods; Snow?!
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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 5: 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.
Those are beautiful Michael. I wish they would last longer this year.
Thanks John. They’re lasting a pretty long time as it is – they just started early.
Heading up out of pure luck this weekend. We’ll have to see how they are doing.
Doug
Well good luck Doug! I think some will still be in good shape.
The valley floor was too crowded for our taste Saturday, so we headed up to Glacier Point Road. We hit Tuolomne Grove today (Sunday), and there were still dogwoods going there, but in general, at or past their peak. Still had a lot of fun shooting them.
Just driving around the floor before we escaped the crush on Saturday, there were a number of tress in full bloom along the drive, and as you mentioned, it seemed like they were loaded with flowers, many more than I have seen per tree in previous years. We’re guessing they are stress blooming because of the drought.
Doug
I don’t know if they’re stress-blooming. If trees are stressed they’re likely to put out fewer blossoms, rather than more. But as you said, there are still lots of nice dogwoods around. Some past peak, but many surprisingly fresh.
Actually, it depends on the species of tree (this info form my daughter who is a graduate student in field biology and ecology). Some species will “hunker down” and try to survive by conserving their resources while others will go crazy trying to propagate and hence bloom more in a stressed situation.
Doug
After several false alarms over the years, I am FINALLY getting to go to Yosemite! I have my copy of your photographer’s guide in hand and can’t wait for this weekend. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and inspiring. I’ll make sure to add the dogwoods to the photo plans!!!!!
That’s great Mike – hope you have a great trip! Unfortunately the dogwoods are now well past peak in Yosemite Valley, but you might still find some good ones at higher elevations, like in the Tuolumne Grove.
Well done on the early morning shots…I see that green tree on the valley floor, it was on one of my business cards, has not changed much in shape…it seem a little thinner…Take care.
KT
Thank you Ken!
Hello Michael,
Love your work.
I am learning photography, slowly. And I need more practice too. To me, other then shooting at the right lighting condition and having a good composition, focusing becomes my #1 challenge. Your images are all so sharp and crystal clearly. Do you mind explaining to me how these two images were focused? I also noticed that on the corners of my images, they are supper soft. I have a 24-70mm/f2.8 tamron lens.
Thank you very much,
BL
Thanks Bailing. I don’t have the time and space here to explain the fundamentals of focusing, but The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite book and app and my Digital Landscape Photography book both have detailed explanations of how to focus for maximum depth of field. If the corners of your images are soft it means that the lens isn’t sharp all the way to the corners; you should try using a middle aperture like f/8 or f/11 and see if this gets better. And I suspect that focusing isn’t really your problem, but rather that you’re seeing some softness in your images and you’re assuming that you’re focusing incorrectly, when it’s likely that there’s another culprit, like soft lenses or camera movement.
Also, you said that my images are “crystal clear,” but I don’t know how you can tell. I never post anything online bigger than 1024 pixels on the long side, which is tiny. Images that are really quite soft will still look good at that size, but look terrible in a print. You can’t judge sharpness in online images unless someone uploads a really big version.
Thank you so much for your quick reply. I know it is hard to explain things here clearly. Really wish i signed up your workshop. I will go back to your book to read it and get the your other books.
When I say that your images are crystal clear is because I put yours and mine side by side. I do not know what it is. I think noise might be another issue. Oh, there is so much to learn.
Again, thank you for responding so quickly.
If you’re comparing your images to mine side by side at the same size on screen, and yours look softer, then they must be very soft for the difference to be visible at that size. Again, I doubt that’s because you’re not focusing properly. Either you have a bad lens, or you’re hand-holding at shutter speeds that are too slow, or you’re using a too-flimsy tripod, or you’re not using a cable release or self-timer when using a tripod. I’m not sure that noise would even make much of a difference at that size. Here’s one of mine at 6400 ISO, and you can’t see any noise at this small size:
https://www.michaelfrye.com/2016/09/07/stars-jeffrey-pine/jeffrey-pine-and-the-milky-way-yosemite-np-ca/
I made the mistake of going to Yosemite the weekend before your workshop. I was in Yosemite when you sent an e-mail to your waiting list. Unfortunately, I didn’t read the email until I was back in So Cal. I could have just stayed if I had read the email Monday Morning. I wanted to make sure that you add Earth Day to your time NOT to go to Yosemite. The National Park was not charging entrance fees and the traffic was beyond terrible. The shuttle was 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours to get from the village to Happy Isles. We took the short shuttle to Ahwahanee and took the back path to mirror lake. Great fun hike and much better than a long bus ride. The Dogwood wasn’t even blooming on Friday but by Sunday it was tiny green flowers – never did get to see any white blooms.
Well I didn’t send any emails Katherine, but I assume you meant the one the Kirk at The Ansel Adams Gallery sent out when we had a last-minute cancellation. I’m not sure if the free entrance fee and Earth Day would make much difference, as traffic is bad every weekend this spring. And in 2011, the last time there was a big snowpack, the waterfalls lasted through most of the summer, which meant bad traffic every day in Yosemite Valley from June through Labor Day. I expect the same this year. I’ll be avoiding Yosemite Valley for the entire summer, unless I go early in the morning and get out by 10 a.m.