Autumn into Winter: Part Two : Michael Frye Photography

Sunbeams and aspens, Dallas Divide, CO, USA

Sunbeams and aspens, Dallas Divide, Colorado. Claudia and I were headed to a more distant aspen grove, hoping to find snow on the trees, but saw some great sunbeams breaking through the clouds and decided to stop at Dallas Divide. We ended up staying for half an hour, with sunbeams moving across the landscape the whole time. For this image I bracketed five shots, two stops apart, and blended them with Lightroom’s HDR Merge.

In my last post I mentioned how much I love the transition from autumn to winter, with splashes of yellow amidst beautiful white aspen trunks, snow etching the trees, and the feeling of the long, cold winter settling in. Here are a few more attempts to capture that mood from the mountains of Colorado.

— Michael Frye

Peach-colored aspens, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens and mountain hemlocks, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens and mountain hemlocks with snow, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Tree pattern, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens and conifers in snow, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens and conifers on a snowy hillside, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Snowstorm on Lizard Head Pass, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Snowstorm on Lizard Head Pass, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. Claudia and I were driving around with our friend Charlotte Gibb and stopped near the top of Lizard Head Pass in a driving snowstorm, captivated by the patterns of snow-covered conifers.

Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.

12 Comments

Dennis Lane on October 24, 2018 at 12:29 pm

Hiya Michael – You did an excellent job on your “Autumn to Winter” photo shoot.I live in the southwest part of New Mexico.
We always pray for a good winter Snow season but we get very little snow in the Gila area. So your photos make me want to dream of snow.

Michael Frye on October 26, 2018 at 5:54 pm

Thanks Dennis. I like snow too. 🙂
Reply

James Hamilton on October 24, 2018 at 3:09 pm

You captured it well, Michael,that transition of the seasons. Colorado is one of the few places in the country where one can drive east to west for about 100 miles and experience four seasons in a period of 2 hours. That always amazes me!

Jim