Autumn in Yosemite Valley

Hopefully it appears that I simply stumbled upon this meadow while on a leisurely late morning hike.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I have wanted to make an image from this location since spring of 2018. That was when I first walked into this meadow and spotted the deciduous trees.  There was going to be a good chance for color in fall.  Also, the bend in the Merced River and open grass would help give me depth to make it a wider shot.  It also allowed me to include just a hint of a close granite wall.

As a fulltime portrait photographer, November is always a busy month.  I knew it would be hard to get away for even a day or 2.  This held true for both that year and the next.  Finally, in 2020 I made the commitment and blocked off the time.  I had several visions of this area as potential and wanted to keep all my options open.  As a result, I put together a specific timeline to provide me with the best chance.  It involved a 3:45am wake up time which is always a gamble.  Just as often as not, much time and effort can be put into a plan only to have nature or weather not cooperate.  Something you only find out hours later.   As you can see, things worked out on this day!

Taking pictures in this meadow is not as simple as pulling off the road and being in position.  You must park somewhere else and walk in.  For that reason, this area is not high on any list of major valley attractions.  I used this to my advantage, knowing I would be able to capture multiple images, over a long period of time, without potentially having to remove crowds of people.  To represent my vision, I needed to set up the tripod and commit to not moving anything before there was any sun in the valley.  I needed a sky with interesting and active clouds, the Autumn trees in full sun, grass in mixed light, a small amount of shaded pine trees for depth, and the granite in shade and full sun.

Perhaps more important than this image, I was able to share this moment with a lifelong friend who recently moved back to the area.  We enjoyed a foggy sunrise and a warm breakfast in this location.  It wasn’t till the sun ended up on the fall color that the glory of this meadow really shined.  At that point I knew that over 2 years later, I had done it.  There is so much amazing granite in Yosemite and it’s easy to think of nothing else.  I love finding spectacular spots that might otherwise get overlooked.