Half Dome and the Merced River at sunrise, Yosemite NP, California

Claudia and I have been home for a couple of weeks, which is a nice break from all our travels. I love all the trips we’ve been able to go on, but it feels good to chill out a bit at our own house, and sleep in our own bed.

And we don’t have to travel far from home to be in an exotic location, since we live only an hour away from Yosemite Valley.

Whenever we’re home I keep an eye on the weather to see if there might be any interesting or unusual conditions in the park. But it’s been a weird winter. We’ve had a few short spells of wet weather, with multiple storms and copious amounts of precipitation. During one of those stretches in February over two feet of snow accumulated on the floor of Yosemite Valley, which is highly unusual.

But in between those occasional wet periods it’s been completely dry and warm for weeks on end. The overall precipitation this winter is well below average, the snow has already melted except at the highest elevations, and spring is arriving early everywhere.

We did get a couple of small rainstorms last week, and Claudia and I went up to the park two mornings in a row to try and catch the clearing storms. I also made it up to Yosemite Valley one morning in February during that big snow event.

I thought it might be nice to post some images made close to home for a change, so here are a few photos from those trips to the park, along with a couple of time-lapse videos from Claudia and me.

Not a bad place to come home to.

— Michael Frye

Misty morning from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, California

Mist surrounding Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite NP, California

Clouds and mist wrapping around El Capitan, Yosemite NP, California

Related Posts: The Power of Masking; Monsoon Season in Yosemite

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, including the North American Nature Photography Association’s 2023 award for Fine Art in Nature Photography. Michael’s photographs have appeared in publications around the world, and 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.