Click on the Tarn Reflection Tioga Pass image to enlarge

Tarn Reflection Tioga Pass

Tarn reflections in the mountains can make for beautiful photographs such as Tarn Reflection Tioga Pass.

Yosemite National Park provides many opportunities to photograph reflections in a tarn.

One of my favorite places to do this is an area off of the Tioga Road just before the Tioga Pass entrance of the park.  This tarn is in an area sometimes called the Tioga Tarns.

As you are driving east on the road there is a large meadow area.  Along the road there are several locations that you can park and hike out into the meadow.  As you get quite a distance from the road you will find this tarn that was created from the sculpting of glaciers a long time ago.

The tarn is often filled with water after the snowmelt occurs in the summer.  There are several different tarns that have reflections of several different mountain peaks in them.

Getting access to this area of Yosemite varies from year to year depending on the amount of snow that has accumulated in the winter.  July will often be the starting point of time when you can begin getting great pictures here. Bring bug spray as the mosquitoes will be vicious.  Water will often remain in a high enough level at the tarns for photography into August when the bugs will also not be as numerous.

The wind conditions can often effect how well you’re reflection in the tarn is for photography.  A strong wind will create too much movement in the water to get a good reflection in the tarn.

Often morning is a good time to explore this area as right around the time of sunrise the wind is often still.  If you are fortunate enough to have an evening where the wind is still then you will have another excellent opportunity for a good reflection.

I always hope for a quiet and still evening.  During the evening the sun will be setting off to the west and will light up the surrounding mountains in a beautiful light of the golden hour.  Also the sun setting will be off to an angle that will allow for use of a polarizing filter to create a beautiful blue sky.  The polarizing filter will also allow for a saturation of the reflection in the water by eliminating any glare.

A tarn reflection in the Tioga Pass area is always a good reason to explore the area of the Tioga Pass road.