Bishop Canyon, Eastern Sierras, California

Fall in California is very different from the rest of the country. Temperatures decline, but not as sharply as elsewhere. So the bright colors - reds, oranges, and yellows - that colder weather brings to the northern and eastern states are rarely seen in California - except in the eastern Sierras. Temperatures there vary much more than on the western slopes and often create dramatic fall displays. Golden hued aspens and cottonwoods predominate.

I lucked into a glorious day for a trip up Bishop Canyon. The aspen along the road to Lake Sabrina are often among the first to show color in the fall. This year it was even earlier than usual by a couple of weeks and showed more orange and red than usual. One of the best ways to capture fall colors is to shoot the light coming through the leaves from behind so that they seem to almost glow.