In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog

Holiday Print Sale Ends Tomorrow!

Holiday Sale Ends:Half Dome and clouds at sunset from Glacier Point, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Glacier Point Sunset, Yosemite

Just a quick reminder that the holiday print sale ends tomorrow (Friday, November 16th) at midnight Pacific time, so you still have time to get 25% off on three images: Glacier Point Sunset, Yosemite; Milky Way over Sand Dunes, Death Valley; and Aspens and Ferns, Kebler Pass, Colorado.

In case you missed the earlier post, you can see the available sizes and sale prices underneath the descriptions of each image below.

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A Brief Detour through the Canyon Country

Storm clouds at sunset, Capitol Reef NP, UT, USA

Storm clouds at sunset, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

On our way back from Colorado last month, Claudia and I spent a couple of nights in southern Utah. We had dinner with one of Utah’s most talented and thoughtful photographers, Guy Tal, along with his wife Sarah. (If you’re not familiar with Guy’s photography and writing you should be!) And we enjoyed the change in scenery, going from the forested, snowy mountains of Colorado to the red-rock canyons.

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Holiday Print Sale

Milky Way over sand dunes, Death Valley NP, CA, USA - holiday sale image

Milky Way over Sand Dunes, Death Valley

The print sale has ended, but you can still order prints at the regular price below.

I’m pleased to announce that we’re having a holiday sale on three prints never offered before, at 25% off the normal price. For this sale we’ve selected three popular images: Milky Way over Sand Dunes, Death Valley; Glacier Point Sunset, Yosemite; and Aspens and Ferns, Kebler Pass, Colorado.

The discounted pricing will last until Friday, November 16th. You can see the available sizes and sale prices underneath the descriptions of each image below.
 

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Dogwood Rebirth

Yosemite fall color: firs and dogwoods, autumn, Yosemite

Firs and dogwoods, autumn, Yosemite. Dogwoods have proliferated in this area burned by the Rim Fire in 2013. 116mm, 15 seconds at f/16, ISO 100.

One afternoon about ten days ago Claudia and I headed up Highway 120, west of Yosemite Valley, to check on the fall color. We found some colorful dogwoods between the Valley and Crane Flat, but west of Crane Flat most of the dogwoods were brown, scorched by the Ferguson Fire last summer. Or, to be more accurate, they had been scorched by firing operations (back burns) performed by firefighters along the road.

We decided to hike down to the Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias. While the Ferguson Fire didn’t reach the Tuolumne Grove, the Rim Fire did in 2013. The media latched onto this story, with headlines about the fire threatening these ancient trees.

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Five Causes of Blurry Photos

Swirling dogwood blossoms, Yosemite. A deliberately blurry photos.

Swirling dogwood blossoms, Yosemite. I used a slow shutter speed (1/2 second) to deliberately blur the motion of these dogwood blossoms, but usually I’m trying to make my photos as sharp as possible.

It’s always disappointing to find out that one of your photos isn’t sharp – especially if it’s an image you like (and you weren’t trying to deliberately blur the image). Yet we all make mistakes. Even professionals like me sometimes take unintentionally blurry photos (as you’ll see below!). But after you’ve swallowed your disappointment, it’s important to figure out why the image is soft so that you don’t make the same mistake again.

There are basically five causes of blurry photos: camera movement, subject movement, missed focus, insufficient depth of field, and lens softness.

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