YOSEMITE VALLEY. Where, when, and how to discover the best photography in America. Updated - May Published since 1989

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1 Updated - May Where, when, and how to discover the best photography in America Published since 1989 There are few landscapes that stir the soul like your first view of Yosemite Valley. The expansive vista of waterfalls dropping thousands of feet down vertical granite walls is overwhelming and will frustrate any photographer trying to capture it all. Each year, millions of snapshots of this National Park are made and then discarded, as visitors try unsuccessfully to capture their impressions and take them home. Everyone is planning to visit Yosemite sooner or later. Whether you have never been there before or you live only a few hours away, avoid rushing through the park too quickly. Plan to stay for at least a week while you wait for just the right light to illuminate each scene before your camera. It is the most unusual and dramatic lighting conditions that create the strongest photographs. Those rare moments when the perfect light falls on the breathtaking vista can be captured in Yosemite, if you are out there in the field and ready on the overlooks under a sky of thunderheads on the meadows when all the wildflowers are open, or on a riverbank when the color of autumn is at its peak. YOSEMITE VALLEY

2 issue 23 - page 2 YOSEMITE VALLEY I have needed all my lenses on photo trips into Yosemite Valley. Focal lengths from 10 mm to 600 mm have all been useful for the great variety of scenes. My favorite image of the valley was taken at the Wawona Tunnel overlook late in the day on 4x5 VPS color neg using a normal lens on my Toyo 45A field camera. Back in 1833, the Yosemite Valley was first discovered by a party of fur trappers. The history of its subsequent political, military, and commercial exploitation has been very interesting and fills many books. I discovered Yosemite, with my parents help, when I was a child. In the late 1940s, our family s mid-summer vacation always included a week of camping in Yosemite Valley. It took all day to drive the narrow and slow roads from San Jose in our 39 Buick, pulling the trailer my father built. We camped along the Merced River and always found a perfect spot with a view of Glacier Point. No one reserved a campsite in those days. In the evening, after our campfire went out, we used to sit on the old Stoneman Bridge over the Merced River waiting for it to get dark. In those pre-transistor radio days, our main evening entertainment in Yosemite was the Firefall. At nine o clock in the evening, we heard a voice echoing from Glacier Point, about three-thousand feet up, shouting down to us. Hello, Camp Curry was followed by someone on the valley floor bellowing back, Let the fire fall! Every night during our summer visits to Yosemite, the glowing embers from a huge bonfire of red fir bark were pushed over the edge of Glacier Point and fell thousands of feet. It lasted only a few minutes but it was the larger-than-life, Wild West spectacle that we went to Yosemite to see. The Firefall was started in the 1870 s and continued until January of 1958, when the National Park Service decided it was an artificial entertainment, not compatible with the preservation of America s scenic wonders in their natural state. The Park Service in Yosemite has changed dramatically since the 1930 s when they dumped all the park s garbage in one big pile to attract bears for the amusement of visitors. Cathedral Spires In those early days, you could drive your car all the way to Mirror Lake and to Happy Isles. Until 1972, you could drive right up to the front door of the Visitor Center. Free buses now shuttle visitors around the park to reduce auto traffic and air pollution. In 1905, ten-thousand people visited Yosemite. In 1922, about one-hundred-thousand visited the park. The year 1954 was the first time Yosemite National Park received one-million visitors. During the peak of last summer s gridlock, it seemed like a hundred-billion people were crammed into Yosemite Valley. I hope you are planning a Yosemite trip soon. Whether you have never been there before or live only a few hours away, Yosemite will always draw you back.

3 issue 23 - page 3 GOING TO YOSEMITE For the shortest drive to Yosemite National Park from the San Francisco Bay Area, take Highway 120 east. Take Highway 140, east of the city of Merced, for the more scenic route. In the spring, the Merced River is a torrent of white water. In early April, the road is lined with redbud. A few weeks later, the deciduous California black oaks are covered with new leaves and wildflowers cover the steep slopes of the river valley. Lupine and paint brush, poppies and Mariposa lily can be seen for miles along Highway 140. In deeper parts of the canyon, there are shady places where wildflowers grow well into the summer on damp canyon walls. Drive this road in the early morning or the late afternoon in the spring and watch backlight on the magenta-colored redbud contrasting with the many shades of new green foliage on the oaks. On the meadows below El Capitan A few miles after passing the small sign at the park boundary, you will be stopped at the entrance gate. Consider purchasing a National Park Pass if you are planning to visit other parks or return to Yosemite. The road beyond the entrance gate gets narrower as it follows the Merced River into the Valley. About five miles past the entrance gate, you will make a right turn where the one-way loop road around the valley starts. The best photography begins at this spot. In early May, trees along the river are covered with large white dogwood blossoms. Park across the Pohono Bridge and walk back to the north bank to frame one of the most beautiful dogwood trees in the area. A medium telephoto lens will frame a composition that includes the river at the bottom of your viewfinder. You can use the arch of the bridge to frame the view both upstream and downstream. Watch the direction of the light and avoid too much contrast. Some of my favorite photographs were made here in the soft light of a rainy day. Leave your car where it is and walk a short way around the next bend in the road to Fern Springs. This is probably one of the smallest waterfalls in Yosemite, but it is a beautiful cascade dropping over the mossy lip of the man-made catch basin. Move in tight with a telephoto lens to catch the pattern of falling water and the reflection of the green forest. Your next stop will probably be Bridalveil Falls. After leaving your car in the parking lot at the base of the falls, walk about two-hundred feet up the trail and walk past the sign pointing out Vista Point. The trail leading up to the base of Bridalveil Falls is usually crowded with visitors. Be sure to include going up the other trail until you reach the third small bridge over the streams flowing from the falls. From that spot, you will see the full height of Bridalveil Falls above you and a cascade of water dropping over granite boulders right at your feet. Fern Springs Late in the summer, some of the streams that drop into Yosemite Valley as waterfalls dry up and the falls become small trickles. Strong winds blowing up the valley will sometimes lift a waterfall completely back up and over the rim of the valley.

4 issue 23 - page 4 During the last two weeks of February, if Horsetail Fall is cascading over the rim of El Capitan, photographers set up their tripods in the El Capitan Picnic Area about 1.7 miles west of Yosemite Lodge to capture the last rays of the day lighting up the cascade in bright shades of orange and red. Vernal Fall (above) faces away from the rising sun and is in shade in the morning. It receives direct sunlight in the afternoon. Mid-day light may be what you want to illuminatethe spray on the Mist Trail and the dark canyon walls. Move in close to the water with a wideangle lens. Try framing the whole scene in a vertical composition. In the early morning, this side of the valley is all in shadow. By mid-morning, the sun will rise over the valley rim and will light Bridalveil Falls. If you have the time, return to photograph the same scene in direct and indirect light. IN THE SPRING In April and May, the waterfalls are at their fullest, and drop into the valley soaking everyone and their cameras approaching too closely. By mid-summer, the high Sierra snow pack has melted and water levels drop. You ll be able to climb over the rocks and move up much closer to the falls. The wet rocks can be very slippery. Use an aperture that will give you enough depth of field for sharpness throughout your whole composition. At f16 or f22, while working in the soft, open shade of the valley walls, your exposures will probably be as long as 1/8 or 1/15 of a second, with a medium speed film. That s tripod time. You should also use a warming filter, like an 81A, when you are working in the blue shadows of open shade. Avoid shooting these stream scenes in harsh and contrasty direct sunlight. Because of the limited amount of parking space available for those plan- ning to explore the eastern end of the Valley, you can leave your car at your campsite or in the parking lot at your lodgings and ride the free shuttle bus. There are many pickup points around the park and short wait times between shuttles. There is never a long wait for the next one. A large day-use parking area is at Curry Village. From there, it is a ten-minute walk to the trailhead at Happy Isles and farther to Mirror Lake. With a little luck and some patience, you can park your car in the small lot at the riding stables. That s as far east as you can drive in the valley. Your trek to Mirror Lake will be considerably shorter. The Merced River drops over Nevada and Vernal Falls and crashes down a steep canyon into the valley. At the valley floor, the river splits and flows around two small islands called Happy Isles. From the bridges over the streams and from the river banks, this is a favorite place for photographers to capture the movement of the water and the delicate lines and textures of the forest. To be able to make the longer exposures necessary to record the deep shadows and darker values of the woods without overexposing the bright highlights of the stream, arrive here at a time of softer light. The early morning, the late afternoon, on a cloudy day, or when the valley floor is under a blanket of fog will be best. The trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls, at least the lower part, is heavily traveled during summer months. The close-up views of the falls are worth the climb. You may not be ready for that much exercise. It s seven-tenths of a mile from the trailhead at Happy Isles and a moderately strenuous climb to the bridge over the Merced River. Here you ll get your first, though fairly distant, view of Vernal Falls. Don t turn back at the bridge. A few hundred feet farther is a sign pointing to the best view point located out on a large flat boulder on the edge of the river.

5 issue 23 - page 5 This is the easiest spot for a good composition of Vernal Falls. From out there on the rock, you will see the trail that lies ahead of you. The Mist Trail climbs steeply more than 500 granite steps in the canyon wall to the top of Vernal Falls. In the spring, when all the waterfalls are roaring, the spray off Vernal drops like rain on the trail and on the climbers. About half-way up the Mist Trail, a single tree is silhouetted by the falling white water, a strong composition. Then, at the last turn in the trail, Vernal Falls is seen in profile. For this hike, I carry a plastic bag over my camera and a dry rag to wipe everything off when I reach the top. There s a large flat area at the top of Vernal Falls where you can stop for lunch and rest up for the hike to the top of Nevada Falls. Carry a full canteen for this hike. A few hundred feet beyond Vernal Falls is the Silver Apron. The wide, flat, smooth granite water course is actually honey-colored where the stream roars down to the pool above the falls. The sight is spectacular and not easy to photograph. It s another mile-and-a-half from Vernal to Nevada Falls via the switchbacks up the narrow canyon at the base of the peak called Liberty Cap. On this slow climb, you will want to stop frequently to photograph Nevada Falls in profile. When you reach the top, you will have climbed almost three-thousand feet from Happy Isles. When you reach the river, take the right fork in the trail to the top of Nevada Falls. On the way down, most people prefer to take the easier, but slightly longer, John Muir Trail. Glacier Point is a wonderful place to set up a tripod on the night of the full moon. A couple miles before reaching Glacier Point, you will see the road sign pointing out the trail to the top of Sentinel Dome. It s about a one-mile hike and you ll climb about 400 feet to the summit for the most spectacular 360 panoramic view of Yosemite. You will be over 4000 feet above the valley floor. This is great place to wait for sunrises, sunsets, and full moons. If you arrive in Yosemite during a new moon, star trails should be on your evening schedule. My favorite location is out on the meadow, facing Yosemite Falls. Carry a camp stool, a flashlight, and a book to read while you watch your timer and wait for the one, two, and three-hour exposures made at the smallest aperture on your lens. In my photographs, the waterfall is a misty cloud on the cliffs, and the night sky is arched with hundreds of star trails. Sometimes the clouds move in to cover the night sky during the long exposures. All the guide books on Yosemite Valley tell of the slow demise of Mirror Lake. It is filling with silt and sandbars, and will someday be just another meadow. Although it remains dry and empty through the summer, Mirror Lake fills with the water of Tenaya Creek each spring. Photographers will find early morning and late afternoon light reflecting on Mirror Lake from the rim of Half Dome above. The trail to the base of Yosemite Falls Half Dome reflecting in Mirror Lake

6 issue 23 - page 6 For small still-life subjects and wildflowers, I carry several folding cloth reflectors in my camera bag. A thin white diffusor will soften direct sunlight and reduce contrast. A silver/gold reflector will fill dark shadows with light. With my camera on a tripod, I can hold both a diffusor and a reflector while I operate my shutter release with the delay timer. Plan to arrive at Mirror Lake before the sun rises for the best reflections on the water. The subtle images across the surface all disappear as direct sunlight strikes the lake. With a bicycle, you can make the two-mile trip to Mirror Lake with ease. Bring your own bike or rent one in the valley. The two-mile round-trip walk to Mirror Lake is easy but may not be very productive for a photographer. In the early spring, when the lake is full, the maples around the lake have no leaves and the scene looks bleak. In the autumn when the leaves are at the peak of their color, there is no water in the lake. If you want to explore farther up Tenaya Canyon, a three-mile trail loops beyond Mirror Lake. Except for a few spots, such as the bridge over Tenaya Creek, there are no good views of the stream and few openings in the dense forest for views of Half Dome. You will find the best photography around Mirror lake. Of all the easier valley hikes, the short walk up to the base of Yosemite Falls is one of the most productive for a photographer. In the spring, when Yosemite Falls is at its fullest, the torrent pushes a rush of wind and spray outward from the base. My favorite tripod location is on the bridge across this stream, nearest the falls. Cover your camera with a plastic bag and remove it briefly to make your exposure. Later in the season, when water levels have dropped, you can try climbing over the rocks, closer to the base of the falls. By the end of summer in early fall, Yosemite Falls often dries to a trickle. Just before reaching the western end of the one-way loop drive around the valley, you will find the wide parking area at Valley View. That spot is directly across the wide river, looking at Bridalveil Falls.

7 issue 23 - page 7 Move downstream and your view will include the monolith, El Capitan. Move closer to the river and your foreground will include large clumps of river grass out in the water. This is an especially good spot in the winter, when the tufts of grass are covered with snow, and in the autumn, when the grasses are yellow. Late in the afternoon, when the river is in shadow, the last rays of the day reflect off El Capitan and light up the river. Arrive at the popular viewpoint looking down on Yosemite Valley at the eastern end of Wawona Tunnel and set up your camera and tripod to wait for the perfect moment when all the jet trails have blown away and the clouds are starting to turn pink. This viewpoint (cover photo) gets crowded in the late afternoon when tour buses unload hundreds of people also trying for that best spot. Be patient and find a good spot. The edge of the parking lot is still the best place to find the spot where Ansel Adams created the famous image he called Clearing Winter Storm. For some diversity from the grand vistas of Yosemite, look down at the patterns of pine cones at your feet. Stop and pick up a pine cone and examine it under your macro lens. These images can add greatly to your slide show of Yosemite. Pinecones along the trail

8 issue 23 - page 8 You can ride to the top of Glacier Point by tour bus and walk down the Four Mile Trail. For a less strenuous hike, you can take the Panoramic Trail by riding the bus to Glacier Point. At the end of the trail into Happy Isles IN THE AUTUMN September brings thunderstorms to the high Sierra. Backpackers leaving Toulumne Meadows are warned of the dangers of lightning strikes on the exposed granite peaks. Hypothermia becomes a concern on longer backcountry hikes when you and all your gear get soaked. Alpine grasses and low-growing vegetation above timberline take on the muted colors of autumn in late September. Some years the peak of autumn color in the valley arrives early in October. Other years are more colorful later in the month. Schedule your fall photo trip for the middle of October and precede it with a few days in the high Sierra. Follow up with a few extra days on the eastern side of the range. Mono Lake, Bodie, and the bristlecone pine forests of the White Mountains are not far from Yosemite. The high Sierra sees the autumn color first when aspen groves above seventhousand feet turn yellow. The cottonwoods of Owens Valley and Bishop usually begin to show the peak of their color after Yosemite Valley has started to fade. In Yosemite Valley, cottonwoods, alder, big leaf maple, and the California black oak turn all shades of yellow, orange, and red during October. The leaves of all the dogwoods in the valley turn red in mid-october. The rivers are lined with autumn foliage. The forest floor is covered with color. Floating on the pools in the shallow streams are summer s leaves, painted a different hue. Looking west, downstream from Sentinel Bridge, the late afternoon sun backlights all the autumn color as it reflects on the river. The hazy light on a warm afternoon will soften those scenes. A telephoto lens will compress and accentuate the haze. As the days of autumn in Yosemite shorten, the waterfalls are reduced to trickles. The slowing current of the Merced carries the last of summer s leaves from the park. The Sentinel Bridge over the Merced is the place photographers set up tripods to capture the last light of day striking Half Dome and reflecting in the river. Photographers and tripods are lined up along the narrow sidewalk crossing the bridge in the evening, waiting for the moment. Yosemite Valley lies at an elevation of about four-thousand feet. The peaks of the mountains surrounding the valley are three- to four-thousand feet higher. Winter snows may blanket the upper regions of Yosemite, leaving the valley looking bleak and muddy. When weather forecasts predict snow levels below four-thousand feet, that is the time to pack up your gear for a winter photo trip into Yosemite. The Tioga Pass Road over the Sierra will be closed through the winter. If the snow is deep enough, Highway 120 from Manteca may be closed, too. You will have to bring tire chains. The park rangers turn back cars without chains when valley roads are under snow.

9 IN THE WINTER issue 23 - page 9 In mid-winter, the sun never reaches over the south rim of the valley. Snowdrifts pile up at the base of the cliffs. Trees on the south side of the valley that are frosted with an overnight snow can remain coated with ice all day. Directly across the Merced River from El Capitan is a wide meadow covered with young cedars. When the morning sun reflects off the bronze-colored granite wall of El Capitan, it casts a golden glow across the meadow and lights the snow-frosted cedars. It s a magical place for a few days each winter. In mid-winter, ice-covered ponds on the meadows become fantasies of crystals and reflections in the early morning when the rising sun blunces off canyon walls. You will find the same reflections at the end of the day, but the ice will have melted. In the morning, the trees are wearing a coat of fresh snow. The sky is usually clear and intensely blue. I like to start my day in Yosemite on the valley meadows and end it on the valley overlooks. The Tioga Pass Road, Highway 120, is sometimes closed by an early snow in October. It usually reopens for a while. The road is not plowed and, in years of heavy snowfall, the Tioga Pass may remain closed well into July. By late July, the alpine wildflowers make their appearance across the meadows of Yosemite s high country. Do not drive into Yosemite Valley without confirmed reservations. Valley campsites must be reserved in advance. Rooms and cabins at Yosemite Lodge and Curry Village will most likely be booked up when you arrive. No longer can you travel to the National Parks and hope for available lodging. Last-minute travel planners should try calling for lodging reservations 30 days, 15 days, or 7 days in advance of your arrival. These are the dates that extra blocks of rooms are canceled by tour companies. If you do arrive in Yosemite without lodging reservations, stop at the front desk of any lodge between 10am and 4pm and put your name on the waiting list. At 4pm, all reservations being held without a deposit are canceled. When I stay at the Yosemite Lodge, I prefer the cafeteria for a quick breakfast after I return from shooting the early light. After check-in, stop by the cafeteria to check serving hours. They change with the season. There is a cafeteria at Curry Village, too. For something nicer, try the grand dining room in the Ahwahnee. Unlike their dinner service, you won t need reservations or a jacket and tie. The most colorful thing that grows in Yosemite is the blood-red snow plant. This member of the wintergreen family has no chlorophyll and feeds on the decaying humus of conifer forests. You will find them growing along the road to Glacier Point, usually in June, while the soil is still damp from melted snow.

10 issue 23 - page 10 I ve counted twentyseven motels, lodges, and bed and break-fast establishments along Highway 140, between Mariposa and El Portal near the west entrance to Yosemite. The National Forest Campground at Indian Flats is just west of El Portal, and the campsites along the river are my favorite. RESOURCES If you don t want to waste time eating lunch in a restaurant, the stores in Yosemite Village or Curry Village can supply your picnic and camping needs. The Yosemite Village delicatessen is a good choice for a quick made-to-order sandwich. Before your next photo trip to Yosemite, go through some of the books of photographs by Ansel Adams. His images of Yosemite will surely inspire. You may want to find the same locations where he set up his tripod. Some of his black-and-white photographs of Yosemite are timeless. Other scenes are long gone or the locations have completely changed. There is always a collection of his prints on the walls of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Village. It is next to the National Park Visitor Center. Opened in 1906 by Harry Best as a painters gallery, the shop later sold the photographs of Ansel Adams. In 1928, Harry Best, the proprietor, became Ansel s father-in-law. Ansel married Harry s daughter, Virginia Best, right there in the gallery. The gallery has been moved to a new location, but is still operated by an independent concessionaire. The gallery has a good selection of Ansel s books and many other photography titles, both how-to books and fine art photo books. The gallery shop carries a good selection of films, including refrigerated Kodachrome and Fujichrome Professional films in 35mm, 120, and 4x5 sizes. They stock most color negative, color transparency, and black-and-white films. Most of the stores around the park sell guidebooks and maps of Yosemite. The main National Park Visitor Center in the Village has the best selection. Rangers are on hand to answer your questions. Stop in to check out the displays and pick up a trail guide or a map of the park. An excellent map of Yosemite published by Trails Illustrated Topo Maps is available. Their complete line of National Park maps are printed on plastic and are great for hikers. They never tear or get wet and soggy. In 1940, Ansel and Virginia Adams published a book called the Illustrated Guide to Yosemite Valley. It was reprinted with the assistance of the Sierra Club in Thirty years ago, when I bought my copy, the 190-page book sold for $3.95. Using Ansel s photographs as examples, the book pointed out the best time of day for the best light on a variety of popular locations in the park. It listed the type of film used, the filters, how his exposures were determined and even made recommendations on which lens to use for various scenes around the park. The paperback book is long out of print, but copies can sometimes be found in used book stores. Yosemite National Park covers 1,169 square miles. Yosemite Valley covers only 7 square miles. You could live a lifetime in the valley and never learn all its secrets. This newsletter has briefly touched what you can discover there.

11 issue 23 - page 11 CAMPGROUNDS & ACCOMMODATIONS There are thirteen campgrounds in Yosemite National Park. Only four of these campgrounds, with a total of 414 sites, are located down in Yosemite Valley. Upper Pines, Lower Pines, and North Pines are located adjacent to each other near Camp Curry. Reservations are required year-round for these Yosemite Valley campgrounds. Camp 4, located near Yosemite Lodge, has 35 spaces available on a first-come basis. These first-come campsites often fill before 9 AM by rock climbers. Reservations are required during summer through fall in Yosemite's High Country for Hodgdon Meadow, Crane Flat, Wawona, and half of Tuolumne Meadows. Campground reservations are available at in blocks of one month at a time, up to five months in advance, on the 15th of each month at 7 AM Pacific time. Be aware that nearly all reservations for the months of May through September and for some other weekends are filled the first day they become available, often within minutes after 7 am. Sleeping in your car or RV is not permitted within Yosemite except in individual campsites. If you plan to camp in Yosemite during summer without a reservation, you are limited to the following campgrounds. * Camp 4 (Yosemite Valley) * Bridalveil Creek * Tamarack Flat * White Wolf * Yosemite Creek * Porcupine Flat * Tuolumne Meadows Arrive by noon on weekdays and midmorning on weekends. Once you find a first-come campsite, you can register for more than one night. Curry Village, located in the center of Yosemite Valley, offers affordable motel rooms, cabins with private bath, cabins without baths, and canvas tents (427 tents). Canvas-covered tent cabins (right) have a wooden frame, wooden floor, and wooden door with four sides of canvas and a canvas roof and are equipped with cot-style beds and electric lighting. They have no electrical outlets, no telephones, televisions, or plumbing. Sheets, wool blankets, pillows and towels are provided. Maid service is not provided but trash is emptied and towels are changed daily. The tents can accommodate two, three, four, or five people and are serviced by two central shower facilities and five restrooms scattered throughout the camp. Some of the Camp Curry services are closed during off-season. Yosemite Lodge, located near Yosemite Falls, is open year-round and offers 226 lodge rooms, 19 standard rooms and 4 family rooms, all with daily maid service. None of the Lodge rooms are air-conditioned. The Lodge has a gift shop, a food court serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the Mountain Room Restaurant. The Ahwahnee is a AAA four-diamond hotel located on the edge of a meadow with a view of Half Dome. Luxurious world-class accommodations. Gift shops, meeting rooms, conference and wedding facilities are available. There's a dress code for dinner in the magnificent restaurant. Arrive for breakfast the morning after the annual Bracebridge Dinner to experience the Christmas decorations in the Dining Hall. Lodging reservations are available at:

12 The Old Tioga Road (left), called the Great Sierra Wagon Road, completed in 1883, was the only route to the mines near the Tioga Pass. The modern Tioga Pass Highway (photo below) was completed in The Tioga Road is closed by the first snow of the season. The road is not plowed. If the snow melts quickly and the roads are clear, the road is opened again. Some years it stays open well into December. The arrival of winter s first steady snow closes the Tioga Pass until May or June. Some years it remains closed until the middle of July. It s a short season in the High Sierra. For winter photography, I drive into Yosemite Valley. The roads are plowed and kept open through the winter. Weather reports indicate when the snow levels drop as low as 4,000 feet, the valley s elevation. Some years there are only a few weeks of snow that actually stays on the ground in the Valley. This usually happens in January. March and April are the mud season in the Valley. Trees are still missing their leaves. By late May, the High Sierra snows are melting and the waterfalls are roaring into the valley. The opening of the Tioga Road is arriving. You can phone (209) for recorded information and 24-hour road and weather information. Find out whether the Tioga road is open before you leave home. Wildflowers arrive on the High Sierra meadows through the month of July. So do the mosquitos. The majority of tourists arrive in Yosemite Valley in August. That s a good time to visit the high country. September sees a drop in visitors and High Sierra trails are less crowded. The weather is cooler. September afternoon thundershowers are common and can make backpacking the high passes dangerous. Aspens usually turn yellow during the last week of September, all over the west. The best autumn color I ever saw in Yosemite Valley was on October 15th when all the valley oaks were orange. That s when the Owens Valley cottonwoods reach the peak of their autumn color. There s much more to photograph in the Sierra Nevada Range than just Yosemite Valley. My life-long career in photography began at San Jose State University in After college, I enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, serving as a photographer and darkroom technician. In Germany, my skills and experience with equipment and lab work were developed and polished. I took the opportunity to photograph the beauty of nature in the Black Forest. Returning to California in 1965, I produced industrial and military training films for Raytheon Electronics and began showing my color nature prints. From 1969 through 1981, my photography was exhibited and sold in West Coast galleries. During the early 1980 s, I taught color darkroom workshops, then expanded to include field trips. Former customers, who had purchased my framed photographs, wanted to learn photography. My Pacific Image Photography Workshops offered adventures to the Pacific Coast, the Southwest deserts, national parks, Hawaii, New England, Canada, England, and the South Pacific. The workshops evolved into writing and sharing my adventures with others. Photograph America Newsletter provides information on where, when, and how to discover the best nature photography in North America. Photograph America Newsletter is published quarterly (four issues/year) by Robert Hitchman assisted by technical associate/wife, Katherine Post Office Box 86, Novato, CA All contents of this newsletter copyright Robert Hitchman Please don t make copies for your friends. This is a violation of Federal copyright laws. This newsletter survives on subscriptions. Have a great trip and send me a postcard!