Pines, mist, and Lower Cathedral Rock, Yosemite NP, California (March 30th)

In between trips to Death Valley, Anza-Borrego, Big Sur, and Arkansas (for the eclipse), Claudia and I found ourselves at home, near Yosemite. Not a bad place to be.

When at home I always keep my eye out for interesting weather. And even though we didn’t have any really big storms this past winter, we had lots of smaller storms, and therefore many opportunities to photograph misty scenes of clearing storms.

As beautiful as Yosemite Valley is, it’s hard to make photographs that capture what it actually feels like to be there. But mist wrapping around the cliffs adds a magic ingredient that visually transforms the landscape into an other-worldly, mystical landscape, making it easier to capture some of the feeling of the place. So in Yosemite, I would rather have mist without snow than snow without mist – any day. But if I can get both, so much the better.

I made the photograph above at the end of March, on one of those clearing-storm mornings. I found a dusting of new snow that day, though it had melted off the foreground trees by the time I made this image. But I liked the way those two tall pines stood out against the fog, and the juxtaposition of those trees with a ridge on Lower Cathedral Rock. By this time – early spring – sun angles had shifted, lighting this scene in a way you wouldn’t see in winter.

I’ve included a few more images from that late-March day below, along with some other winter scenes of mist and snow that I haven’t had a chance to post before. We’re heading into summer, and opportunities to photograph clearing storms will be scarce for awhile. But summer can bring monsoonal moisture, and thunderstorms, with dramatic clouds, lightning, and sometimes even rainbows. And summer also affords access to the beautiful lakes, peaks, and meadows of the Yosemite high country – my favorite part of the park. So it’s always good to be home, in any season.

— Michael Frye

Oaks, mist, and Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite NP, California (March 30th)

Mist wrapping around Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, and Cathedral Rocks, Yosemite NP, California (March 30th)

Trees, cliffs, mist, and Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite NP, California (February 3rd)

Oaks and sunbeams, Yosemite NP, California (January 25th)

Oaks and mist, Yosemite NP, California (January 25th)

Snow falling from oaks, Yosemite NP, California (February 8th)

Reflections in the Merced River, winter, Yosemite NP, California (February 8th)

Related Posts: Snow and Sunbeams; Half Dome and Fog; Trees and Fog

Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He lives near Yosemite National Park in California, but travels extensively to photograph natural landscapes in the American West and throughout the world.

Michael uses light, weather, and design to make photographs that capture the mood of the landscape, and convey the beauty, power, and mystery of nature. His work has received numerous awards, and appeared in publications around the world. He’s the author and/or principal photographer of several books, including Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, and The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite.

Michael loves to share his knowledge of photography through articles, books, workshops, online courses, and his blog. He’s taught over 200 workshops focused on landscape photography, night photography, digital image processing, and printing.