Fall Colors Bring Visitors

As a refresher, here's how to submit your photos and reports:

Email photos (.jpgs) and reports to editor@CaliforniaFallColor.com when you have them. The sooner, the better. Photos taken more than a week before being sent are not usually published. That's because CaliforniaFallColor.com is a news service, and its users plan their trips to see fall color based on what they see on the site. So, photographs taken in previous weeks, months or years (historical) aren't that helpful. If space permits, I sometimes will include them in retrospectives.
Each photo should be identified with the date it was taken, the exact location where it was taken and the name of the photographer who took the photo. If you know the type of foliage, that's helpful, but not necessary. If I can't identify it, I sometimes will contact you to see if you know what it is or refer to CalScape for clues.
Each Thursday from the Autumnal Equinox to the Thursday before Thanksgiving Day, I send the California Fall Color Report - a comprehensive review of what's been reported in the previous week - to over 500 travel, outdoor and news media across California. I also select the best photos of the preceding week and provide them - with photographer's permission - to select media, including some of California's largest newspapers and television stations. To assure that your submissions are eligible to be included in the California Fall Color Report or CaliforniaFallColor.com's Best of the Week on Thursday, I need your submissions not later than Wednesday night.
Do not include watermarks on photographs, as that excludes their consideration for the Best of the Week collection. Media will not publish photographs with a watermark.
Size photos at 300 dpi, if possible. 72 dpi is acceptable for the website, but limits their being considered as one of the Best of the Week. The best camera to use is a digital camera. Though, today's smart phones take beautiful pictures, and several photos selected for the Best of the Week were taken by mobile devices. In selecting the Best of the Week, I try to represent the diversity of California's fall color, as much as possible. Just one of several great photos of the same location will be selected, but an average photo of a lesser-known or unexpected location is likely to make the cut, for the reason of showing as much as possible. Southern California photographers have an advantage, as SoCal media love showing what's appearing south of the Tehachapis.
Most color spotters take photos on weekends (Fri. – Sun.), the first photos for a given location sent to me are usually the first to be included in a posting. Other photos for the same location will be added to that initial report. That assures that I’m not posting successive reports for the same destination. We will make every effort to publish your report, particularly if it is from an unusual or lightly reported destination. When multiple photographs are received from heavily visited locations, we are able only to publish the first received, the best or the most unusual. Please understand that we are not able to publish all photos received from a popular destination, particularly if similar photos were taken at the same location on the same day and time.
Please just don't send photos. They're useless without a report for the location where they were shot. Reports should include:
1. % of color change for the location being reported, not for a specific tree or shrub (expressed as: Just Starting, 0-10%; Patchy, 10-50%; Near Peak, 50-75%; Peak, 75-100%; or Past Peak);
2. Where the color was seen (e.g., Rock Creek Lake, Mono County). Be as specific as possible (e.g., west side of lake along Little Lakes Valley trail). Include directions, if not obvious (e.g., take Rock Creek Rd. west from US 395 to Little Lakes Valley trailhead);
3. When the color was seen (e.g., 9/11/20); and
4. Additional information (e.g., “The trail is steep for the first 500′, but then levels out for the two-mile hike through the valley. A grove of peaking scrub aspen is found at the western side of the trail.”). If you know the foliage seen in the photo (particularly if it is unusual or wouldn’t be evident to us), please identify it (e.g., aspen, bigleaf maple, black oak, silver willow, etc.). The best reports include personal observations and commentary.
Reports and photos can also be posted on CaliforniaFallColor’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. However, CaliforniaFallColor.com, has over 100,000 views, whereas our social media sites have far fewer views. Emailing photos and reports to editor@californiafallcolor.com is the best way to get them seen broadly and the only way to get them considered as one of the Best of the Week. I am not able to check our social media sites as often as I check our email box. So, photos posted only on a social media site are likely only to be seen there.
Finally, CaliforniaFallColor.com is unable to compensate photographers for use of their images, but we always credit the photographer for his/her work. Publication of photographs on CaliforniaFallColor.com has benefitted many contributors who have had their photographs republished, leading to broader recognition/exposure, enhanced resumes/reputation, paid compensation from others and/or retail sales, not to mention bragging rights.


Fall Colors Bring Visitors As a refresher, here's how to submit your photos and reports: Email photos (.jpgs) and reports to editor@CaliforniaFallColor.com when you have them. The sooner, the better. Photos taken more than a week before being sent are not usually published. That's because CaliforniaFallColor.com is a news service, and its users plan their trips to see fall color based on what they see on the site. So, photographs taken in previous weeks, months or years (historical) aren't that helpful. If space permits, I sometimes will include them in retrospectives. Each photo should be identified with the date it was taken, the exact location where it was taken and the name of the photographer who took the photo. If you know the type of foliage, that's helpful, but not necessary. If I can't identify it, I sometimes will contact you to see if you know what it is or refer to CalScape for clues. Each Thursday from the Autumnal Equinox to the Thursday before Thanksgiving Day, I send the California Fall Color Report - a comprehensive review of what's been reported in the previous week - to over 500 travel, outdoor and news media across California. I also select the best photos of the preceding week and provide them - with photographer's permission - to select media, including some of California's largest newspapers and television stations. To assure that your submissions are eligible to be included in the California Fall Color Report or CaliforniaFallColor.com's Best of the Week on Thursday, I need your submissions not later than Wednesday night. Do not include watermarks on photographs, as that excludes their consideration for the Best of the Week collection. Media will not publish photographs with a watermark. Size photos at 300 dpi, if possible. 72 dpi is acceptable for the website, but limits their being considered as one of the Best of the Week. The best camera to use is a digital camera. Though, today's smart phones take beautiful pictures, and several photos selected for the Best of the Week were taken by mobile devices. In selecting the Best of the Week, I try to represent the diversity of California's fall color, as much as possible. Just one of several great photos of the same location will be selected, but an average photo of a lesser-known or unexpected location is likely to make the cut, for the reason of showing as much as possible. Southern California photographers have an advantage, as SoCal media love showing what's appearing south of the Tehachapis. Most color spotters take photos on weekends (Fri. – Sun.), the first photos for a given location sent to me are usually the first to be included in a posting. Other photos for the same location will be added to that initial report. That assures that I’m not posting successive reports for the same destination. We will make every effort to publish your report, particularly if it is from an unusual or lightly reported destination. When multiple photographs are received from heavily visited locations, we are able only to publish the first received, the best or the most unusual. Please understand that we are not able to publish all photos received from a popular destination, particularly if similar photos were taken at the same location on the same day and time. Please just don't send photos. They're useless without a report for the location where they were shot. Reports should include: % of color change for the location being reported, not for a specific tree or shrub (expressed as: Just Starting, 0-10%; Patchy, 10-50%; Near Peak, 50-75%; Peak, 75-100%; or Past Peak); Where the color was seen (e.g., Rock Creek Lake, Mono County). Be as specific as possible (e.g., west side of lake along Little Lakes Valley trail). Include directions, if not obvious (e.g., take Rock Creek Rd. west from US 395 to Little Lakes Valley trailhead); When the color was seen (e.g., 9/11/20); and Additional information (e.g., “The trail is steep for the first 500′, but then levels out for the two-mile hike through the valley. A grove of peaking scrub aspen is found at the western side of the trail.”). If you know the foliage seen in the photo (particularly if it is unusual or wouldn’t be evident to us), please identify it (e.g., aspen, bigleaf maple, black oak, silver willow, etc.). The best reports include personal observations and commentary. Reports and photos can also be posted on CaliforniaFallColor’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. However, CaliforniaFallColor.com, has over 100,000 views, whereas our social media sites have far fewer views. Emailing photos and reports to editor@californiafallcolor.com is the best way to get them seen broadly and the only way to get them considered as one of the Best of the Week. I am not able to check our social media sites as often as I check our email box. So, photos posted only on a social media site are likely only to be seen there. Finally, CaliforniaFallColor.com is unable to compensate photographers for use of their images, but we always credit the photographer for his/her work. Publication of photographs on CaliforniaFallColor.com has benefitted many contributors who have had their photographs republished, leading to broader recognition/exposure, enhanced resumes/reputation, paid compensation from others and/or retail sales, not to mention bragging rights.
Town Chatter - September 2020, Volume 3