I needed new fall color images for my 2022 Eastern Sierra calendar.  To fill the need I spent two weekends chasing fall colors in the Eastern Sierra from Bishop to Lee Vining. 

The first weekend there was a lot of smoke which forced me to refrain from the large vistas and concentrate on more intimate compositions.  While I am not a fan of smoke it made me change my focus and ultimately improve my images.

The pursuit of intimacy got me farther from the road and provided me with a challenge.  How to make a certain tree or set of trees stand out in a very busy scene.  The extra time I took setting up the composition really paid dividends.

There is one beautiful section In Bishop Canyon on the way to South Lake.  There are Aspens in front of steep granite rocks.  I have been trying to get an image I liked from here for years but never quite succeeded. Either the colors were blown out from the sun or the shade gave a blue cast to the image that I didn’t like.

On one of the afternoons, we were driving past this area and the sun was hitting the tops of the Aspen.  It created this wonderful contrast between the bright treetops and the shaded granite.  I almost kept driving, but my photographer’s assistant insisted I take a picture.  I found a spot to park and took the shot.  I am glad I did because now I have an image of this beautiful spot that I really like.

I found several areas where there were single Aspen trees mixed in with the Pines.  Their leaves were reflecting indirect light that the rest of the forest was absorbing.  This helped isolate the Aspens in a busy scene.  I got especially lucky one morning to catch the sun shining through one of the Aspens.

On the second weekend, the smoke was gone.  While I started taking large vista images, I continued to focus on the intimate compositions.  This time trying to add water.  There are some spots I know that are not heavily traveled by other photographers.  Others have become heavily visited.  With social media now publishing Fall Color updates and screaming “go here now” visitation to once peaceful locations are now as crowded as the floor of Yosemite.  Unfortunately, McGee Creek is one of those lovely spots that has become heavily traveled.    

Again, obstacles forced me to go a little deeper into the woods.  The result is I upped my game and I am very happy with the results.

The colors this year were wonderful.  The smoke and crowds created a few obstacles.  I worked around them.  In the end, the obstacles made me capture better images.  As Marcus Aurelius said:

“Just as nature takes every obstacle, every impediment, and works around it—turns it to its purposes, incorporates it into itself—so, too, a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal.”

Stay tuned for the next post that focuses on Fall Color grand vistas!

Some of these images will be in my 2022 Eastern Sierra calendar. The link to order is:

https://www.bob-kent-photography.com/2022-sierra