Mt Lemmon AZ Images
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Visitor's Guide
    • Seasons
  • Birding Hotspots
    • Agua Caliente
    • Madera Canyon
    • Mt Lemmon
    • Portal, AZ
    • Sweetwater Wetlands
    • Texas Coast
    • White Water Draw
  • Birds
    • Acorn Woodpecker
    • American Bittern
    • American Coot
    • American Kestrel
    • American Robin
    • Arizona Woodpecker
    • Ash-throated Flycatcher
    • Black and White Warbler
    • Black-crowned Night-Heron
    • Black Phoebe
    • Black-throated Sparrow
    • Cactus Wren
    • Cassin's Vireo
    • Cedar Waxwing
    • Chihuahuan Raven
    • Common Raven
    • Cooper's Hawk
    • Crested Caracara
    • Curve-billed Thrasher
    • Elf Owl
    • Gambel's Quail
    • Gila Woodpecker
    • Great Blue Heron
    • Great Horned Owl
    • Green-tailed Towhee
    • Hooded Oriole
    • House Finch
    • Ladder-backed Woodpecker
    • Lazuli Bunting
    • Lesser Goldfinch
    • Northern Cardinal
    • Northern Flicker
    • Northern Mockingbird
    • Northern Shoveler
    • Phainopepla
    • Pied-billed Grebe
    • Plumbeous Vireo
    • Red-naped Sapsucker
    • Red-tailed Hawk
    • Rufous Hummingbird
    • Sandhill Crane
    • Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher
    • Verdin
    • Vermilion Flycatcher
    • White-crowned Sparrow
    • White-winged Dove
    • Williamson's Sapsucker
    • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • About
  • Contact
  • Parting Shots
  • Member Content

Journal
(Blog)


Fall Colors in Bear Wallow, Mt. Lemmon, October 2020

11/13/2020

3 Comments

 
Picture
Bear Wallow, 9:12 am, October 23, 2020.   Canon EOS R6 with EF 17-40 mm f/4L at 24 mm, 1/100 sec at f/22 ISO 1250 with polarizing filter. 

In special memory of Frank Rose (1927-2020) who touched so many people in so many ways,  and for those on the mountain, awakened  the wonders of flowers and trees in the Catalinas. We miss you Frank. 

Bear Wallow is a small valley that runs east to west not far from the top of the mountain at  mile post 22.   For a Map see this link.    The trail through the valley can be accessed either from E. Upper Bear Wallow Road which runs east of the highway where it makes a hairpin turn, or from Soldiers Camp Road which is across the highway from the Butterfly Trailhead.  There is a huge culvert, a tunnel if  you like, that runs under the highway providing hikers and picnickers access the the valley on either side of the highway.  The valley is loaded with oaks and maples, as well as varieties of pine trees.   

If you are not from Tucson, this valley is a one hour drive north of Tucson at at 7800 feet.  Yes, you can go from the Sonoran Desert to pines, oaks and maples in an hour.  About 30 degrees cooler also! 
​

Picture
Canon EOS R6 with EF 17-40 mm f/4L at 35 mm, 1/60 sec at f/22 ISO 800 with polarizing filter. 

For the photo geeks:  Fall is a good time to ignore the common wisdom of shooting with the sun at your back, and instead shoot into the sun and catch the leaves transilluminated. 

To get the star burst effect of the sun set your aperture at ~ f/22, and/or line up the sun right at the edge of a trunk or branch.  Add a polarizing filter to darken the sky and eliminate reflections from leaves, enhancing their color.  Note that polarizers only work when shooting at 90 degrees to the sun. 

​For a great article on shooting in the fall, see Fall Color Fundamentals, text and photos by Kevin McNeal in the September 2020 issue of Outdoor Photographer. 

Picture
Canon EOS R6 with EF 17-40 mm f/4L at 24 mm, 1/50 sec at f/8 ISO 125 with polarizing filter.

For this photo shoot I parked by the side of E. Upper Bear Wallow Road, which runs east from the highway right at the hairpin turn.   See the map below.  The road runs the length of the wallow to the east, then turns uphill and becomes E. Mt Bigelow Road up to the U of A Observatory and the radio towers. 
Picture







​ These images were captured east and west of the highway, on either side of the huge culvert that runs under the highway.   In October the sun is getting lower in the sky and the lighting will change as the day progresses.  


Picture
Canon EOS R6 with EF 17-40 mm f/4L at 28 mm, 1/100 sec at f/22 ISO 1600 with polarizing filter.

Picture
Canon EOS R6 with EF 17-40 mm f/4L at 40 mm, 1/100 sec at f/22 ISO 1600 with polarizing filter.

Picture
Canon EOS R6 with EF 17-40 mm f/4L at 45 mm, 1/100 sec at f/11 ISO 640 with polarizing filter.

November is still fall, but the leaves have fallen and we have seen our first snow a week ago.  

More soon.  Stay safe, stay well.
​Happy trails!

3 Comments
Linda Currin
11/14/2020 10:14:42 am

Of course, spectacular as always, even without the birds this time. Thank you so much for your wonderful talents so I can continue to see our mountain!! Happy fall and Happy Thanksgiving too!!

Reply
Mary Lou Piatkiewicz
11/14/2020 10:39:34 am

Soo Beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing 🤗

Reply
Wolf Schuh link
11/14/2020 07:56:35 pm

Interesting on the map: there are two cabin sites INSIDE the 180 degree curve of the highway, i.e. right below the culvert. If you hike around there, these cabins are long gone, but rests of foundations are still around.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Henry Johnson, photographer and author of this site. For more detail, see About


    Categories

    All
    Agua Caliente Park
    Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
    Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
    AZ
    Back Yard Birding
    Bosque Del Apache
    Canoa Ranch
    Cape May
    Catalina State Park
    Fort Lowell Park
    Ft. Huachuca
    Hereford
    Madera Canyon
    Mt Lemmon
    Oracle State Park
    Oregon
    Patagonia
    Portal AZ
    Ramsey Canyon
    Reid Park
    Sabino Canyon
    San Pedro River
    Santa Cruz Flats
    Sierra Vista
    Sweetwater Wetlands
    Texas Coast
    Tubac
    Tucson Audubon Festival
    Tucson Mountain Park
    White Water Draw

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Visitor's Guide
    • Seasons
  • Birding Hotspots
    • Agua Caliente
    • Madera Canyon
    • Mt Lemmon
    • Portal, AZ
    • Sweetwater Wetlands
    • Texas Coast
    • White Water Draw
  • Birds
    • Acorn Woodpecker
    • American Bittern
    • American Coot
    • American Kestrel
    • American Robin
    • Arizona Woodpecker
    • Ash-throated Flycatcher
    • Black and White Warbler
    • Black-crowned Night-Heron
    • Black Phoebe
    • Black-throated Sparrow
    • Cactus Wren
    • Cassin's Vireo
    • Cedar Waxwing
    • Chihuahuan Raven
    • Common Raven
    • Cooper's Hawk
    • Crested Caracara
    • Curve-billed Thrasher
    • Elf Owl
    • Gambel's Quail
    • Gila Woodpecker
    • Great Blue Heron
    • Great Horned Owl
    • Green-tailed Towhee
    • Hooded Oriole
    • House Finch
    • Ladder-backed Woodpecker
    • Lazuli Bunting
    • Lesser Goldfinch
    • Northern Cardinal
    • Northern Flicker
    • Northern Mockingbird
    • Northern Shoveler
    • Phainopepla
    • Pied-billed Grebe
    • Plumbeous Vireo
    • Red-naped Sapsucker
    • Red-tailed Hawk
    • Rufous Hummingbird
    • Sandhill Crane
    • Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher
    • Verdin
    • Vermilion Flycatcher
    • White-crowned Sparrow
    • White-winged Dove
    • Williamson's Sapsucker
    • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • About
  • Contact
  • Parting Shots
  • Member Content