In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog

In Redwood Country

Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon, Del Norte Redwoods SP, CA, USA

Redwoods and rhododendron, late afternoon



I’m up along the far northern California coast, scouting for my upcoming redwood workshops. I just love this area, and I’m having fun exploring some new locations, as well as reacquainting myself with old favorites.

We’ve had off-and-on showers, with periods of soft light broken up by sunshine and interesting clouds. On Tuesday afternoon a rain squall passed through, and then skies cleared late in the afternoon – perfect conditions for photographing some of the sea stacks that are so abundant along the coast here. I’ve included three images from that afternoon below.

I found a redwood grove that gets sunlight very late in the afternoon, and watched beautiful amber light streaming through the forest as I walked along the trail. Photographing a forest with patches of sun and shade is a lot like photographing a landscape with dappled light from broken clouds. The light has to highlight the most interesting parts of the scene for it to work, but when that happens the modulated, chiaroscuro lighting can add depth, dimension, and mood to the photograph. I found a couple of compositions where the light hit just the right places: the image of redwoods and rhododendrons at the top, and the one with faint sunbeams below.

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Spring Continues in Yosemite

Dogwoods and reflections along the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Dogwoods and reflections along the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA


The dogwoods put on an exceptional display in Yosemite Valley this year; it seemed like every tree was bursting with blossoms. Participants in my Spring Digital Camera workshop with The Ansel Adams Gallery last week had lots of opportunities to photograph dogwoods, and I was really impressed with some of the compositions they made.

I found time to make the image above one afternoon last week, with dogwoods juxtaposed against reflections in the Merced River. This is good example of the kind of small-scale lighting event I wrote about recently; late in the day the sun hit trees and bushes along the opposite bank of the river, creating multi-colored reflections in the water behind this group of dogwoods.

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