Eastern Sierra Nevada: Fall Color in Full Swing, get there soon!
Strong cold winds and smoke from local fires forced me down from the White Mountains, killing two days of shooting time. Bummer, since I had distinct shots planned. But it was just unpleasant and unworkable. That weather has passed, and maybe I’ll try it again.
But yesterday I did a long (too long carrying gear!) up to Pine Creek Lake. While there are no aspen up at 10000 feet in that canyon, a brilliant stand of golden yellow aspen is not far up from the trailhead.
For highly fit and adventurous hikers, there are large stands of intense yellow and red aspen just below the Morgan Lakes, accessible via the Rock Creek trail, or the damaged and grueling trail from the Pine Creek area (hard core hikers only, mountain bike legal for most of the way, but top skills required). Other places are much easier to get to, such as Lundy Canyon (which I have not visited as yet), albeit relatively crowded at Lundy, vs solitude.
Fall color is down to the 7000 foot level, perhaps a bit lower or higher in some areas, depending on exposure and conditions locally.
Sorry, no pictures yet as I have not had time to process the latest—yesterday’s 13-hour hike made me sleep for 13 hours! It’s a long route of switchbacks up to Pine Lake.
The Sony A7R IV image quality under aggressive contrast control is very high, as per the image below. The image quality is better than any prior Sony mirrorless camera.
Below, it looks warm, but it is distinctly below freezing!
Sony A7R IV + Sigma FE 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art @ 14mm
ENV: Pine Creek Trail, altitude 7600 ft / 2316 m, 28°F / -2°C
RAW: Enhance Details, LACA corrected, push 1.3 stops, +100 Shadows, -100 Highlights, +33 Whites
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Sony A7R IV + Sigma FE 35mm f/1.2 DG DN Art RAW: LACA corrected
[low-res image for bot]
