by Michael Frye | Dec 20, 2015 | Night Photography
Gates of the Valley by moonlight, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
A small storm arrived yesterday morning. It looked like it might clear before sunset, but by early afternoon it became obvious that showers would linger throughout the day. There was, however, another window of opportunity, as the two-thirds-full moon was due to set at 1:45 a.m. When the clouds started to break up around 9:00 p.m. I drove up to Yosemite Valley.
This storm was a little warmer than the previous ones, bringing mostly rain instead snow to Yosemite Valley, but in typical fashion the temperature dropped at the tail end of the storm, and I found a light dusting of snow. I arrived just before ten o’clock, almost four hours before the moon was due to set, so this was the lunar equivalent of an early-afternoon clearing, with the moon still high overhead. But there was abundant mist, and moonlight breaking through clouds, so it was quite beautiful. And the mist lingered for hours, so I stayed and kept photographing until after the moon set.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 17, 2015 | Composition, Vision and Creativity
Reflections along the Merced River, winter, Yosemite. I tried several different versions of this photograph. I initially wanted to include a wider view, with more trees on the sides, but a distracting log just out of the frame on the right bothered me. In the end I liked this tighter, simpler, distraction-free version better.
Yosemite Valley received two doses of snow this past weekend, first on Friday night, and then again on Sunday night. I wasn’t able to make it up there on Saturday, but Claudia and I drove up early Monday morning after the second snowfall.
The storm had cleared around midnight, and temperatures then dropped down to 25 degrees. Below-freezing temperatures inhibit the development of fog and mist, so the skies were clear when we arrived in the valley. But we found three to four inches of fresh, fluffy snow coating all the trees.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 13, 2015 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Aspens and sagebrush, autumn, Inyo NF, CA, USA
In most people’s estimation – including mine – this year was a poor one for fall color on the eastern side of the Sierra. Some aspen groves just turned brown and dropped their leaves early, probably because they were stressed by the drought. Other more well-watered groves turned late. It was hard to find areas where most of the trees were at peak color at the same time.
And yet, despite all that, we found some wonderful color on the east side this fall. I had a great time photographing the aspens before, during, and after our workshops. I posted a couple of eastern-Sierra grand landscape scenes earlier, but here are some more intimate views of the aspens on the east side. Whether the color is early or late, good or bad, there’s always something to photograph over there in October. Nature is resilient, and ever-beautiful.
— Michael Frye
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by Michael Frye | Dec 8, 2015 | Announcements
Thanks to all of you who bought the new second edition of Digital Landscape Photography, either directly from us, or through Amazon. I really appreciate all the support! We have sold out of the limited number of copies we had on hand, but we will be getting more, and I’ll let you know when we do. In the meantime you can get the book from Amazon, although of course it won’t be signed.
Thanks again!
— Michael Frye
by Michael Frye | Dec 8, 2015 | Announcements
Ilex Press and Focal Press have just released the second edition of my book Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters.
This book looks at the techniques of past masters of landscape photography – particularly Eliot Porter, Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams – and explores how those techniques can be adapted to digital photography today. In this new edition, I tried to infuse the book with even more of the master’s words, ideas, and images. I was happy to also be able to include images by Minor White and Philip Hyde, in addition to photographs by Adams, Porter, and Weston. I was also able to interview people like John Sexton and Charles Cramer who knew Ansel and his techniques, or had, I thought, particular insights into how traditional film and darkroom techniques relate to modern digital photography.
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