Smokeless but Cloudy Skies 

By John P. DeGrazio 

It’s fire season in California. Every year between June and October, California becomes susceptible to fire. This year, we had a particularly dry winter so we are more prone. Currently, there are two fires burning in Yosemite, The El Portal Fire and the Dark Hole Fire. Neither fire is currently causing problems in Yosemite, and the El Portal Fire is 100% contained (all roads are open). The air quality in Yosemite Valley was temporarily affected, but it has improved dramatically since the containment.

Despite our dry winter, we have had a lot of moisture move into the Sierra this summer in the form of storms. This has caused there to be some dramatic skies over Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra which creates ideal conditions for photography. I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph some amazing landscapes recently and will be able to share them in the coming weeks. Here is one from Sentinel Dome just the other day on a cloudy, stormy morning where there is no longer much haze from the smoke. Blue sky images are nice, but clouds always add depth to an image.