Fall Afternoon, Merced River

Image: Fall leaves reflected in the Merced River, near El Capitan Meadow.

Description: We finished a month-long Fall Color trip in Yosemite Valley. It was early November. Due to smoke from recent fires some of the trees were late in turning color, so everything everywhere in the Valley hit Fall all at once.

Specific Feedback Requested: Nothing in particular.

Pertinent technical details or techniques: Nothing extra. It’s a single frame from the camera, processed in LR.

Joe, the colors here (yellows, greens, browns) fit together very well, although my favorite parts are the subtle reflections of the tree trunks in the upper left and lower right. I’m finding the bright diagonal band a bit overwhelming, which has me wondering if it’s the combination of brightness against the subtlity that I’m finding challenging. One thought would be to zoom in on the leaf reflections in the center to create an abstract.

Great eye Joe – one of the best things about fall reflections in Yosemite is the low and slow water, which complicates (and enhances) the shots because you can see the river bed through the reflections. Creates kind of a double exposure look, but that’s also what makes these shots special. The band of dark at top (the shoreline, for context?) could go, in my view, and perhaps it is possible to bring up the tree reflections which Mark mentioned. Either way, there’s nothing better than losing one’s self wandering Yosemite Valley in fall with a camera, stalking the Big Tooth Maples, and being rewarded for the effort.