by Michael Frye | Apr 22, 2016
Although I grew up in New York state and Connecticut, I’ve made California my home for over 30 years. And there’s no place I’d rather be for landscape photography. This state is amazingly diverse and beautiful, and I could happily photograph here for the rest of my life and never run out of subjects.
I’ve spent so much time in Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra that they deserve their own portfolios, but here’s a selection of images from the rest of the state.
All images are available as prints. Please visit our print ordering page for available sizes and prices.
by Michael Frye | Apr 11, 2016 | Advanced Techniques, Yosemite Photo Conditions
Poppies, lupines, goldfields, and tri-colored gilia, Merced River Canyon, Wednesday afternoon. A focus-stacked blend of four different frames.
It’s spring, which means it’s wildflower season, and focus-stacking season.
There’s been a secondary poppy bloom in the eastern end of the Merced River Canyon near El Portal. No big swaths of poppies, but smaller patches, and some of those patches are mixed with other flowers, which always makes things more interesting. Claudia and I spent the afternoon up there on Wednesday, and had a great time. I’ve included a couple of my favorite images from that day here.
As I was processing the images later, it occurred to me that all of them required focus stacking. Literally every single one. And this is very common for me when photographing wildflowers. I don’t need focus stacking often in other seasons, but in spring I use this technique all the time. It’s just difficult to get everything in focus with one frame when photographing wildflowers. I’m frequently picking out a particularly dense patch of flowers, and using a telephoto lens to emphasize patterns and visually compress the space, making the flowers look closer together. Even with careful focusing and f/22 it’s impossible to get everything in focus with a long lens raking across a field of flowers like that. But even with wide-angle lenses it’s sometimes difficult to get everything in focus with one frame, because I’m getting really close to the foreground flowers, so there’s a tremendous amount of depth.
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by Michael Frye | Apr 2, 2016
I am very fortunate to have a loyal and enthusiastic group of people who follow my blog and want to take my workshops. This means the workshops fill quickly, and I know it can sometimes be frustrating to see that all the workshops are full. Here are some tips for getting into one of my workshops for the first time:
• Get on my mailing list. Because the workshops are so popular, we usually give our workshop alumni advance notice when a new workshop becomes available. The more popular workshops often fill just with our alumni, but if a workshop doesn’t fill then I’ll send an email to my general list. There is no separate workshop mailing list. There is only one list, which includes a subscription to my blog. You can sign up for the list on any page of my blog.
• Don’t hesitate! When I do send an email about a new workshop to my general list, the available spots usually fill very quickly.
• Get on the waiting list. If you’re interested in a workshop, but it’s full, first read the workshop description and FAQ page carefully to make sure you have the experience and hiking ability required. Then email Claudia to sign up for the waiting list. Cancellations are common, and even if there are people ahead of you on the waiting list there’s always a chance you might get in – especially if it’s a last-minute cancellation, and people ahead of you on the list have made other plans.
• Persistance pays, so keep trying. We hope to see you in a workshop sometime!
I love teaching, sharing my knowledge of photography, and helping others express their photographic vision. I’m dedicated to making sure that every student who takes one of my workshops comes away with new skills, new inspiration, and new ideas about how they can express themselves through their photography.
Cutting Through the Clutter
The world of digital photography can be complicated and confusing. There’s lots of conflicting information out there. I work hard to cut through the clutter and give students clear, simple advice that will help them improve their photography and better express their own unique view of the world through their photographs.
It’s one thing to watch an instructor talk about finding the right exposure, or demonstrating a Photoshop or Lightroom technique. You may think you understand it—until you try it yourself.
I think the best way to learn is by doing. In my workshops I make sure that every student has the opportunity to practice the techniques that I teach, with one-on-one help from me and my assistants.
Many workshops talk about small class sizes, and then say they limit the number of students to 15, or even 20. I don’t consider 15 to the be a small class. It’s impossible for an instructor to give fifteen people the personal attention and hands-on experience necessary to improve their technique and learn to make more creative photographs.
I believe in truly small classes, and personal attention. The maximum number of students in my field workshops is twelve, and most have less. And classes with more than six students include a knowledgeable assistant to make sure that there is always someone available to answer questions and help with compositions in the field.
2025 Workshops and Events
Antarctica (through Visionary Wild, with co-leader Chris Linder)
January 14-30, 2025
(Completed)
Hokkaido (through Visionary Wild, with co-leader Toshiki Nakanishi)
February 10-21, 2025
(Completed)
Out of the Great Smoky Mountains photography conference
April 27 - May 1, 2025
The Mystic Forest: Redwoods Along the Northern California Coast
June 2-6, 2025
(Waiting List)
Starry Skies Adventure: Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra
June 23-26, 2025
(Waiting List)
Greenland - Scoresbysund (through Visionary Wild, with co-leaders Jerry Dodrill and Chris Linder)
September 9-21, 2025
Exploring the Oregon Coast
November 14-18, 2025
(Waiting List)
Yosemite: Winter Light
December 8-12, 2025
(Waiting List)
2026 Workshops and Events
Antarctica (through Visionary Wild, with co-leader Justin Black)
January 1-17, 2026
Hokkaido (through Visionary Wild, with co-leader Toshiki Nakanishi)
February 4-17, 2026
Grand Canyon by Raft (through Visionary Wild, with co-leader Jerry Dodrill)
April 26 - May 9, 2026
The Mystic Forest: Redwoods Along the Northern California Coast
June 1-5, 2026
(Waiting List)
by Michael Frye | Mar 17, 2016 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Redbuds in the Merced River Canyon, Monday afternoon
The redbuds have been coming along nicely in the Merced River Canyon, along Highway 140 west of Yosemite. I drove through the canyon on Monday, and most of the redbuds were blooming. Not all of those that were blooming were fully open yet, and some redbuds were still just budding. On the other hand, I saw a few that were starting to leaf out. Overall I’d say they were not quite at peak, but there were plenty of beautiful redbuds to photograph. They’ll probably peak around this weekend, or next week.
It was harder to tell what was going on with the poppies in the canyon. In late February it was starting to look like we would have a great year for poppies. There were a couple of very colorful hillsides in the western part of the canyon, and the bloom was spreading further east. But since then we’ve had a lot of rain. While rain is usually good for wildflowers, poppies like warm sunshine — at least once they begin blooming. A stretch of cold, rainy weather will cause already-blooming poppies to pack it in for the year and go to seed.
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by Michael Frye | Feb 28, 2016 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Poppies in the Merced River Canyon, April 2014
Spring has arrived early this year. It seems the poppies in the Merced River Canyon west of Yosemite liked the warm February weather we’ve been having, and they’ve been appearing in greater numbers over the last two weeks. On Friday, when Claudia and I drove up to Yosemite Valley for the Yosemite Renaissance opening reception, we saw some vibrant patches of poppies on the north side of the canyon (opposite Highway 140) a few miles easts of Briceberg. Other spots further east were just starting to show tinges of orange, but I expect those areas will become more colorful. It’s shaping up to be a good year for poppies in the canyon, but it’s just getting started, and the flowers are likely to last for several more weeks if the weather cooperates.
I’ve also seen photos of brilliant poppy displays in the southern Sierra foothills (east of Fresno and Bakersfield). And Death Valley is having a good bloom right now also. But southern California has received below-average rainfall so far this winter, so some of the best wildflower spots in the state like the Carrizo Plain and Antelope Valley probably won’t have great displays this year unless they get more rain soon.
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