In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Oct 22, 2010 | Announcements, Workshops
Spotlight on Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite National Park
The Ansel Adams Gallery posted their 2011 workshops on their web site today, and they’re open for registration. I’m very happy to announce that I’ll be teaching five classes with the Gallery next year, including a Photoshop and Digital Printing Workshop in January, the Spring Yosemite Digital Camera Workshop in April, and my Hidden Yosemite workshop in July. You can see the complete list on myworkshop page.
There are a few errors on the Gallery’s site, which we’re working to fix. The descriptions on my site are correct, so please refer to these for now, and email me if you have any questions. But I wanted to let you all know that the registration is open, since these classes often fill up quickly.
As you probably know from reading this blog, I love teaching. It’s immensely satisfying to help people find their photographic vision and master the craft of photography. So I’m really looking forward to these workshops next year! Hope to see you in one of them.
by Michael Frye | Oct 21, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
I spent the last two days in Yosemite Valley doing a private workshop. The weather was fantastic—we got to photograph lots of interesting clouds and chiaroscuro light patterns. More potentially photogenic stormy conditions are predicted through the weekend.
The autumn color in the valley is improving every day, but it’s still not quite there yet. There are four main types of deciduous trees in the valley: big-leaf maples, dogwoods, cottonwoods, and black oaks. The maples usually change color first, and this year is no exception. You can find nice displays already near Pohono Bridge and along Southside Drive underneath Cathedral Rocks. I’d say about 50 percent of the maple leaves in the valley have turned as of today.
The other trees are a bit further behind. Perhaps 20 percent of the dogwood and cottonwood leaves have changed so far, and perhaps only 5 percent of the oak leaves. The dogwoods and cottonwoods need at least another week, and the oaks maybe two weeks.
But while the show consists mostly of maples so far, these trees produce the most consistently vibrant and beautiful color in the valley, and they are changing rapidly. I saw a noticeable increase in yellow leaves in just the last 36 hours. So they may peak soon—maybe even this weekend.
by Michael Frye | Oct 19, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Claudia and I made it over Tioga Pass on Sunday, and spent the last two days around Lee Vining photographing aspens. It rained off and on, so we had to wait out a few showers, but the moisture intensified the colors, and gave us some interesting clouds and weather to photograph. I made hundreds of exposures, drained two robust batteries in one day, and got thoroughly soaked, but we had a great time—it was just beautiful. I have a lot of images to process, but here are a couple of early favorites.
A lot has changed in the last week, and autumn has finally bloomed in the eastside canyons. Some of the middle and upper elevation areas are at peak, and the lower groves around June Lake and Lee Vining Canyon are getting there. We found some beautiful orange aspens along the Virginia Lakes Road, just above Conway Summit. The Dunderberg Meadow area was gorgeous. Of course the spots that are good now will probably be past peak soon, but I expect June Lake, Lee Vining Canyon, and Lundy Canyon will all be beautiful this weekend.
As for Yosemite Valley, I’ve heard that the color has really started to come out recently, and I’ll be up there the next two days to check first hand.
I have a busy workshop upcoming workshop schedule, and of course I have to get out and photograph the fall color! So I won’t be doing a critique this week, but will post one early next week. Stay tuned—and let us know about autumn color that you find.
Multi-colored aspen leaves
by Michael Frye | Oct 15, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Aspens and snow in the Bishop Creek area, October 5th—Photograph by Evan Russel
After Tioga Pass closed last week I was stuck on the west side of the Sierra, but my friend Evan Russel, Ansel Adams Gallery staff photographer and one of my workshop assistants, made it over there a day earlier, and captured some some great images of snowy aspens after the storm on October 3rd and 4th. Here are a couple of examples. You can see more of Evan’s work on the Gallery’s Facebook page.
Meanwhile in Yosemite Valley autumn is progressing slowly. After some color suddenly appeared last week I thought that the leaves might turn quickly, but apparently the warm weather has slowed things down. I spent the last two days in the valley, and saw some trees that have partially changed, but none fully clothed in their fall colors. Claudia checked out the dogwoods along Highway 120 between the entrance station and Crane Flat and saw mostly green leaves, so it seems that even the higher-elevation trees haven’t changed yet.
Aspens and snow in the Bishop Creek area, October 5th—Photograph by Evan Russel
While we may have to wait a bit for more color in the valley, this could also mean that all the deciduous trees will change at the same time. Usually the dogwoods and big-leaf maples turn earlier than the oaks and cottonwoods, and the color is spread out over several weeks. But occasionally all the trees turn together, creating some exceptional conditions.
On the eastern side of the mountains the color is not yet at its peak in the middle and lower elevations, but things are starting to change quickly, and color can be found in many of the medium-to-high-elevation aspen groves. I described some of the progress in my last two posts, but will add that on Tuesday I found some nice orange trees in the upper reaches of Lee Vining Canyon, along Highway 120. These aspens had shown very little color only three days earlier. The next two weeks could be great in places like Lundy Canyon, Lee Vining Canyon, June Lake Loop, and Conway Summit.
by Michael Frye | Oct 11, 2010 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Stormy afternoon over Conway Summit
Claudia and I went up to Conway Summit, Virginia Lakes Road, and Dunderberg this afternoon. This area had the best color we’ve found yet. Conway Summit is still mostly green, as you can see from the photo, but getting there. There are some nice patches of yellow and orange above Conway Summit on the road to Virginia Lakes. Most of the Dunderberg Meadow area (between Virginia Lakes and Green Creek) is still green, but should be good in another week or so. We did find a small patch of red-orange trees nearby. Alas, darkness arrived before we made it to Green Creek—too much to photograph along the way!
Yellow and orange leaves near Dunderberg
