by Michael Frye | Dec 2, 2018 | Light and Weather
El Capitan and the Merced River at sunset yesterday evening
Several storms rolled through here last week. The largest of those dropped over two inches of rain in Yosemite Valley, and left a dusting of snow on the Valley floor Friday morning, but I couldn’t get up there early that day because Highway 140 was closed by mud and rock slides in the burn scar from the Ferguson Fire.
A smaller but colder storm was due to arrive Saturday, this time promising a chance for more significant snow. By noon Friday all the roads into the Valley had reopened, so I took a detailed look at the weather forecasts to see when this next storm might clear. Most of the information seemed to point to a clearing sometime after sunset on Saturday. But there was one item in the Hourly Weather Forecast on the National Weather Service website that hinted that the storm might clear before sunset. This graph showed sky cover (cloud cover) staying at 77% until 9:00 p.m., then dropping to 40% by 10:00 p.m. – well after dark. But the line showing precipitation potential dropped abruptly from 90% at 2:00 p.m. to 40% at 3:00 p.m. Hmm. Here’s what that looked like:
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by Michael Frye | Nov 25, 2018 | Light and Weather
Misty sunrise, Half Dome and the Merced River, Yosemite. This was a very contrasty scene, so I bracketed five exposures, each two stops apart, and blended them with Lightroom’s HDR Merge. The settings, for what they’re worth: 16mm, various shutter speeds at f/11, ISO 100.
I don’t like getting up early. I’m really more of a night owl, and it’s always an unpleasant shock when the alarm jars me out of a deep sleep at oh-dark-thirty. But I force myself to rise early any time there’s a chance for an interesting sunrise, because if I don’t I might miss something special, and then I would kick myself.
After a very dry autumn we finally got two storms last week. The second storm moved through on Friday and Friday night. All signs indicated that it would clear sometime around sunrise yesterday (Saturday), which could be great timing. So I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m., pried myself out of bed, made some breakfast, and drove to Yosemite Valley.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 15, 2018 | Announcements
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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by Michael Frye | Nov 11, 2018 | Travels and Stories
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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by Michael Frye | Nov 9, 2018
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, at the beginning of my career, I spent most of my time photographing wildlife. Although I mostly concentrate on landscapes these days, I still take advantage of any wildlife opportunity that presents itself, and make it a point to photograph the amazing flocks of geese and cranes in California’s Central Valley each winter.
The images in this portfolio are presented in more-or-less chronological order, with some dating back to the late ’80s, while others are quite recent. You’ll find very few closeup portraits, as I usually try to make images with a mood and a sense of place, which means including some of the animal’s habitat, or showing large flocks or herds.
All images are available as prints. Please visit our print ordering page for available sizes and prices.
