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
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.
Clearing storm by moonlight, Yosemite, Wednesday evening.
Last week another storm brought rain and snow to Yosemite. We didn’t get a lot of precipitation, but after the cold front passed through, snow levels dropped down to near 3,000 feet, and Yosemite Valley received about two inches of snow.
Checking the satellite images online Wednesday afternoon it looked like the skies might clear before sunset, so I headed up to Yosemite Valley. It didn’t quite happen; I saw some breaks in the clouds, and faint sunlight hitting Sentinel Rock, but that was all. However, I knew that the nearly-full moon was due to rise about 20 minutes after sunset, so I headed up to Tunnel View to see if the skies might clear in time for the moonrise.
Half Dome, oaks, and high water, Yosemite. The latest issue of Photograph magazine includes my article “Singing the Blue Sky Blues,” about how to make the most of cloudless days.
Today and tomorrow, everything is 50% off at Craft & Vision. And better yet, they’re donating 20% of every sale to the Red Cross to support Syrian refugees.
That discount inclues Exposure for Outdoor Photography, my ebook about understanding the essential technical fundamentals of photography. I also recommend Piet Van den Eynde’s Lightroom 5 Unmasked and Lightroom 6 Up to Speed as supplements to my Landscapes in Lightroom ebook; while my ebook covers the Develop Module in depth, Piet delves into all the details about the other modules. And I can also recommend anything by David duChemin.
Autumn morning, Half Dome and elm tree, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
I have many things to be thankful for today. First and foremost, I’m grateful to all of you for your support, participation, and thoughtful commentary. You help to make writing this blog thoroughly enjoyable.
I’m also grateful for the rain and snow we’ve had recently. We need a lot more, but the winter rainy season is off to a good start.
And I’m very thankful for my friends, and my wonderful family. I’ve been truly blessed to be married to the same kind and beautiful woman for almost 30 years.
Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, I hope you all have many things to be grateful for today. Happy Thanksgiving!
— Michael Frye
Fog and clouds over Mono Lake with the White Mountains in the distance. On this October morning we had planned to go the June Lake Loop, but some interesting clouds prompted me to photograph sunrise along the lakeshore. As the sunrise color faded, I noticed a layer of fog forming over the lake. We drove up toward Conway Summit to get above the fog, and stopped along the road, where I stayed for about 30 minutes photographing the shifting fog and clouds. This is a blend of three exposures using Lightroom’s new HDR Merge.
Mono Lake is a special place. First, of course, there are those amazing tufa formations. But it’s also unusual to see such large body of water surrounded by desert sagebrush. And then there are the mountains in the background, including the dramatic escarpment of the Sierra Nevada to the west, and the White Mountains to the southeast. Oh, and I almost forgot the wonderful bird life!
That unique setting is often adorned by interesting clouds, and occasional fog. We spent a lot of time in Lee Vining this summer and fall photographing the night sky and fall color, but we also had opportunities to photograph this beautiful lake under a variety of conditions, so I thought I’d show a few of those images here. I’ve included extended captions to give a little information about each photograph.
Lunar eclipse sequence with light-painted Joshua trees, September 27th, 2015, Joshua Tree NP, CA, USA
Here, finally, is my photograph of the lunar eclipse on September 27th. We went to Colorado right after this, and then to the eastern Sierra, and in the middle of all that I had to deal with a computer problem, so it’s taken me awhile to put together this sequence.
You might recall that I had planned to go to Death Valley or the Alabama Hills for the eclipse, but a stream of high clouds threatened to block the view, so at the last minute we decided to head further south, away from the clouds, to Joshua Tree National Park.
Snow-covered California black oak, late autumn, Yosemite, Tuesday morning
I’m in Dallas today teaching a Lightroom workshop for the Sun to Moon Gallery. We have a nice group of people and we’re having a great time, but meanwhile, back in Yosemite, another storm is arriving. I won’t get to photograph this one, but did get to photograph the previous one last Monday and Tuesday.
That storm featured a brief, misty clearing on Monday morning, a dusting of snow on Monday night, and a couple of surprises. It began on Sunday night, but early Monday morning the satellite and radar images showed that there might be a break around sunrise before more precipitation arrived that afternoon. So I drove up to Tunnel View early, and sure enough, it did clear. It wasn’t the most colorful sunrise, but there was plenty of beautiful mist, as you can see in this photograph:
A quick reminder that the price for my Landscapes in Lightroom ebook and video package will go up on Sunday (at midnight Pacific time) from $14.95 to $27.00. This is your last chance to get the new edition at the old price! The new version has been updated for Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC, and includes eight step-by-step examples, plus ten video tutorials. Click the Add to Cart button below, or visit this page for more information.
Landscapes in Lightroom: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide
PDF ebook plus video tutorials
103 double-page spreads
14.95 until Sunday, November 15th, after which the price goes up to 27.00
FAQ
Aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. This small, remote pond had a beautiful stand of aspens growing next to it. The trunks remind me of a baleen whale’s teeth.
As I said in this recent post, I had many opportunities to photograph aspens as part of a larger landscape this fall. But of course I photographed more intimate scenes as well, and I’ve included a selection of smaller-scale aspen photographs from Colorado here. Some of these images actually encompass a large geographic area, but I made the somewhat arbitrary distinction of defining an intimate landscape as anything that didn’t include sky.
On our first autumn visit to Colorado last year we split our time between the Kebler Pass/McClure Pass area and the San Juan Mountains. This year we spent the whole time in the San Juans, which allowed us to get to know this area better. There’s always something to be said for that. As you become more familiar with a place, you discover some of the lesser-known locations. You also start to learn the weather patterns, and know where to go at sunrise or sunset when there might be interesting clouds.
I’ve been using Lightroom since Adobe released the beta version in 2006. Over the years I’ve learned many shortcuts, and in this video I share some of my favorite tips – things I use all the time to streamline my workflow:
