Travels and Stories
by Michael Frye | Feb 8, 2026 | Travels and Stories, Wildlife Photography
Porpoising chinstrap penguins, Antarctica. 355mm, 1/1500 sec at f/16, ISO 5000. I needed a fast shutter speed to freeze motion, and a small aperture to get all the penguins in focus. That required pushing the ISO quite high, but I can deal with the noise (Adobe’s Denoise did a great job), while I can’t fix a blurry photo.
Penguins are so much fun to watch. I need penguins in my life every day. I think everyone does. Luckily I can watch Claudia’s videos whenever I need a penguin fix.
It’s super fun watching penguins at their nests, with the adults performing displays and calls, stealing rocks from neighboring nests, and feeding their adorable chicks. But it’s also highly entertaining to watch them away from their nests – especially as they’re porpoising out of the water, jumping ashore, or leaping into the water en masse.
Penguins are fast and agile swimmers. Gentoo penguins are thought to be the fastest swimmers, reaching speeds of up to 22 mph. (This video shows how fast and agile they are underwater.)
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by Michael Frye | Feb 1, 2026 | Travels and Stories, Wildlife Photography
Southern giant petrel chasing a chinstrap penguin, Antarctica (it didn’t catch it)
On one of our zodiac cruises in Antarctica we visited a large chinstrap penguin colony, where penguins gathered on a black-sand beach as they were coming and going. We couldn’t land on this beach due to rough surf and high penguin activity, but our zodiac drivers hovered just offshore, giving us a great view.
The penguins attracted southern giant petrels. As you can see from the accompanying photos and video, giant petrels are big birds – larger than the chinstraps – with a six- to seven-foot wingspan. Petrels are quite aggressive, and will sometimes hunt penguins. They usually can’t catch a healthy adult penguin, but can catch chicks, or a sick or injured adult.
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by Michael Frye | Jan 22, 2026 | Travels and Stories
Icy glow, Antarctica. We were lucky to find this beautiful backlight catching the tops of these ice fingers.
Claudia and I just returned from Antarctica. This was our second trip to the bottom of the world, and it was just as amazing and wonderful as the first. On both trips I tried to make photographs that capture something of what it’s like to be there, but even my best images can’t convey the actual experience. It’s truly like traveling to a different planet.
Once again I was teaching for Visionary Wild aboard our small, chartered ship, the Hans Hansson. This time my co-instructor was Visionary Wild founder and owner Justin Black, and we shared the experience with a wonderful, fun group of participants, along with the ship’s small, stellar crew. Most of the crew members were the same as last year, so it was great to see familiar faces, and they couldn’t have been nicer.
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by Michael Frye | Jan 8, 2026 | Travels and Stories
Chinstrap penguins, Antarctica
Claudia and I are back in Antarctica! We’re so happy to be in this amazing place again, and share the experience with our wonderful group of participants, along with the stellar crew aboard the Hans Hansson. And a big thanks to my co-instructor Justin Black, the founder of Visionary Wild, who did such an great job organizing this special trip designed for photographers.
We’ve had some wonderful light, and fantastic encounters with wildlife. Passing through the Gerlache Straight two days ago we saw a huge concentration of humpback whales – probably 50 or so within a few square miles.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 30, 2025 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Waves, fog, and sunbeams along the Oregon Coast. I waited for the sun to crest the ridge on the left and light the large waves rolling in, using a fast shutter speed (1/500 sec.) to freeze the motion. I liked this moment, with sunbeams and a series of wave splashes.
Claudia and I just returned from our annual trip to the Oregon Coast. Our workshop went really well, with a small, wonderful group of participants. And we had some beautiful light to work with.
One of the things I told the group was how much I love the variety of light and moods you can photograph along the Oregon Coast. The weather seems to change constantly (in November at least). One day it’s stormy and dramatic, the next day (or minute) it’s foggy and ethereal. Or something else. With the changeable weather, and the shifting tides and waves, it’s a dynamic environment, where you have to be on your toes to capture moments when the light, weather, and waves come together to create something interesting and beautiful.
Those moments are frequent, but fleeting. You need to anticipate when something might happen, or be able to switch gears quickly when things change.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 30, 2025 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Dappled light at a canyon overlook, Utah
Claudia and I are finally on our way home after our long road trip. It’s been a fantastic journey, and we really don’t want it to end, but we’ll be back on the road again soon, heading to the Oregon Coast. That’s one of my favorite places to photograph, so I’m looking forward to that already.
I’ve made lots of new images on this trip that I’m excited about. It’ll take some time to sort through and process them all, but here are a few photos from one stormy day in Utah.
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