Troubles in Colorado…..
It was a pleasant sunrise this morning. Later in the day a front moved in and we lost sight of the mountains for awhile.
Here is an article from the L.A. Times that I thought was interesting and troubling at the same time. The general consensus with most of the photographers that I have talked to this year is that there has been a general decline in the quality of the “Fall Color Season” in the Eastern Sierra. Nothing really drastic, but noticeable. I contacted a researcher at the White Mountain Research Station, a John Smiley, and asked if he had any information on the condition in Colorado and if it was something we should be looking for. He informed me that there were no current studies of the aspen in the Eastern Sierra, but that he was interested and would follow up. He did however tell me that in the previous two summers, due to the dry conditions, there was a problem with a rust fungus on the aspen leaves. The late spring this year helped alleviate that problem.
I hope that this problem stays localized(sorry Colorado) and does not spread west. I think that we are going to see a lot of changes in the future due to the changing climate. This adds a sense of importance to what we are doing as landscape photographers. We may be documenting something for the future. I read an article some time back that argued that there were so many pictures of aspens that it was a waste of film to photograph them anymore. I disagree. Everyone contributes something new with every image because we all see the world from a different perspective. So I am off again tomorrow in search of more “Fall Color” in the Eastern Sierra and I am looking forward to many more years of this quest. I am certainly glad that there are so many that enjoy this pursuit as much as I do.
