by Michael Frye | Dec 24, 2021 | Announcements
Half Dome and El Capitan as a snowstorm cleared last week
Last week’s storms seemed like early Christmas presents. We need lots of rain and snow to bring us out of our prolonged drought, so any precipitation is a gift. And for me, seeing snow fall in Yosemite Valley, and being able to photograph two clearing storms, made it even more special.
As we approach the holidays, I’m very grateful to live here and do what I do, and to be able to share those experiences with all of you. To those who celebrate the day, Claudia and I wish you a very Merry Christmas! We hope you have a wonderful holiday, full of peace, joy, the love of family and friends, and special moments to remember.
— Michael Frye
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by Michael Frye | Dec 21, 2021 | Light and Weather, Yosemite Photo Conditions
Pink light on El Capitan at sunset, Yosemite, last Tuesday evening. 50mm, 1/8 sec. at f/11, ISO 100.
We’ve reached the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, and this year it actually feels like winter here in the Sierra Nevada. In some recent years the weather has been warm and dry in December – and that’s the way this month began. But last week two separate storms brought over five inches of precipitation to Yosemite Valley.
The first storm was the biggest. It rained hard in the Valley on Monday, but by Tuesday morning rain had changed to snow, eventually piling up about eight inches of white stuff. Our workshop group had to wait out some of that rain on Monday, but then we photographed almost all day Tuesday, with some brief breaks to dry out and warm up.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 12, 2021 | Travels and Stories
Aspens and pines in a snowstorm, Inyo NF, California. 141mm, 1/250 sec. at f/16, ISO 1600.
In early October Claudia and I traveled to Utah and Colorado, and on our way we made a brief stop in the eastern Sierra.
Forecasts predicted a cold storm with low snow levels (for early October). That meant we might get to photograph aspens in snow, with autumn color, if we made it over to the eastern Sierra before the storm. So we packed hurriedly, hoping to make it over Tioga Pass before the road closed – which we did, with about 30 minutes to spare.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 4, 2021 | Announcements
Waterfall, North Carolina
I’ve always loved good photographic prints. Some of my formative years as a photographer were spent working at The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite, where I got to see, and even hold, beautiful prints from people like Ansel Adams, John Sexton, Charles Cramer, Alan Ross, Bruce Barnbaum, and Christopher Burkett, among many others.
In the early stages of my photography journey I felt limited by what I could do with prints made from my color transparencies (slide film). I saw amazing color prints from people like Chris Burkett and Charlie Cramer, but their processes were extremely time-consuming and difficult to master.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 22, 2021 | Travels and Stories
Oak and maples, southern Utah. Wandering down a wash, I came around a bend and immediately noticed this patch of color. But color is never enough by itself; you have to find a way to organize that color into a cohesive composition. Luckily the yellow gambel oak provided a clear focal point to build a composition around. I used a long lens (168mm) to isolate the most interesting parts of the scene, and compress the branches into patterns of color. 168mm, 3 seconds at f/16, ISO 100, focus-stacked with Helicon Focus.
Claudia and I have had a busy autumn. We went to Yellowstone in early September, then made our way to Colorado and Utah in October, and just got back from the Oregon Coast yesterday.
I’ve made a lot of photographs, so it’s been a challenge to edit and process them all, and put them into cohesive groups. But looking back, one group of images that stands out to me is this one, of autumn color in the canyons of southern Utah.
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