by Michael Frye | Apr 5, 2020 | Light and Weather
Late-afternoon light in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Most of the photographs I made this afternoon didn’t include a foreground. But I saw this rock outcrop, and kept it in mind for the right opportunity. That opportunity came when the sun slid underneath the clouds and highlighted the jagged forms of the outcrop. 16mm, 1/20th sec. at f/16, ISO 400.
Our winter got off to a wet start in late November and early December, but then fizzled. We hardly got any precipitation during most of December, January, and February – traditionally the wettest months of the year in California, when we get the bulk of our annual rainfall.
That pattern changed a bit in March, with a few good storms to help replenish the previously-anemic Sierra snowpack. And one of our largest storms since last spring is moving into California right now, with forecasters predicting three to four feet of snow above 7,000 feet. Our precipitation for the water year (October 1st through September 30th) will still be below average, but these early-spring storms should, at least, leave us with a decent snowpack for this time of year, with closer-to-normal runoff in our rivers and creeks over the next couple of months, and a more typical summer in the high country.
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by Michael Frye | Feb 15, 2020 | Announcements
Stars, Orion, and zodiacal light over an eroded gully, Death Valley
I’ve had a full plate for the last month or so, with several workshops, followed by the Out of Yosemite conference. The conference was really fun, and I’ll have more to say about it soon. But first I wanted to let you know that Ian Plant just posted an interview with me on his YouTube channel. I thought Ian had some great questions. We discussed how I began my career as a wildlife photographer, my night photography, whether I have a personal style, and the balancing act between photographing the things you like while finding an audience for those images. And we talked about how I made some of my photographs, like the Death Valley image above. I hope you’ll enjoy the interview; here’s a link.
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by Michael Frye | Jan 12, 2020 | Light and Weather
Ice and reflections, Yosemite. The gold color comes from reflections of sunlit cliffs, while I used a polarizing filter to bring out the prism effects in the ice. 168mm, 3 seconds at f/16, ISO 320; focus-stacked and blended with Helicon Focus.
I love photographing ice. It’s highly photogenic stuff, with lots of interesting patterns, and crystal facets that catch and reflect the light in beautiful ways.
During our recent workshop in Yosemite Valley temperatures were cold enough to create some wonderful ice formations along the Merced River, next to Bridalveil Fall, and in some of the creeks, so of course we had to make time to photograph the ice. We were often looking for places and angles where ice in the shade would catch golden reflections from sunlit cliffs across the valley, adding a splash of color to the patterns. And in some spots, with the right kind of ice, in the right light, we could see prism effects in the ice through a polarizing filter.
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by Michael Frye | Jan 4, 2020 | Announcements
The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top photographs of 2019!
We had a great response this year: over 360 people looked through my initial selection of 44 images and voted for their favorites here on the blog, Facebook, Instagram, and through email. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to look through these photographs and voice your opinions! I also really appreciate all the kind words so many people included with their votes. I wish I could respond to every comment and email, but please know that I’ve read them all and am very grateful for all your support. And also, many thanks to my wonderful assistant Claudia who tallied all those votes!
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by Michael Frye | Dec 31, 2019 | Announcements
Note: I’ve closed comments on this post because the voting deadline has passed. I’ll be posting the results soon!
Happy New Year!
It’s become a New Year’s tradition on this blog to pick my best images from the past year, and once again I’m inviting you to help me make these difficult choices. I’ve posted 44 of my best photographs from 2019 below, in chronological order. After you look through these, please post a comment listing your ten favorites.
You don’t have to list your ten favorites in any order, or even name them – just numbers will do. (The numbers are in the captions underneath the photographs. Also, you can click on the images to see them larger.) Once the votes are in I’ll post the top ten or twelve on this blog, and submit the final group to Jim Goldstein’s blog project, where he’ll be showcasing the best images of the year from over 300 photographers.
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