Half Dome and North Dome at sunrise from the Four-Mile Trail, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
Just in time for Black Friday The Ansel Adams Gallery is sponsoring another special print sale of two of my photographs, at 25% off the normal price. The two images we selected for this offer are Half Dome and North Dome from the Four-Mile Trail, Yosemite, and El Capitan by Moonlight, Yosemite. I’ve posted these two photographs on this blog before, of course – in fact El Capitan by Moonlight was selected by you, my readers, as one of my ten best photographs of 2015, getting the third-most votes. But these two images have never been exhibited at a gallery or sold before.
My signed, matted, limited-edition 16×20 prints usually sell for $325, but during this sale you can get one for only $244. Or you can purchase a 20×24 print, normally $475, for only $356. This is a rare chance to purchase one of my photographs at a reduced price, but the sale lasts just one week, until Tuesday, November 29th, at 6:00 PM Pacific time. Visit the Ansel Adams Gallery website to purchase a print or get more details.
Here are the stories behind the photographs:
Half Dome and North Dome from the Four-Mile Trail, Yosemite National Park (shown above)
In late March of 2016 a small storm rolled through Yosemite. The showers tapered off during the wee hours, and I rose early, hoping to photograph a clearing storm in Yosemite Valley.
As sunrise approached, radar images on my phone showed a band of showers approaching. It looked like the rain would pass through quickly, but it might be possible to hike up the Four-Mile Trail and reach a view of Half Dome just as the showers dissipated and skies started to clear. It would be a gamble, but I decided to take a chance and go for it.
I hoofed it up the trail as fast as my legs and lungs would allow. The skies started clearing earlier than expected, which meant I might get to my spot too late. But when I finally reached the view of Half Dome at about eight o’clock I found a gorgeous scene, with backlit mist, clouds, and trees dusted with snow The light show continued for about half an hour, but my favorite image is this one, made just after I arrived. Apparently I got there just in time.
El Capitan by Moonlight, Yosemite National Park
El Capitan by moonlight, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
A late-November rainstorm turned colder, and by the end of the storm the floor of Yosemite Valley was covered by two inches of snow. Checking the satellite images online in the afternoon it looked like the skies might clear, so I headed up to Yosemite Valley. The clearing didn’t quite happen in time for sunset, but I knew that the nearly-full moon was due to rise about 20 minutes after sunset, so I headed up to Tunnel View to see if the skies might clear in time for the moonrise.
It was a beautiful moonrise from Tunnel View, but as the moon climbed higher, it appeared through a gap in the clouds, and the contrast became too extreme, plus I started to get lens flare (yes, the moon can create lens flare!). So I packed up and headed down to a spot along the Merced River, where the clouds and mist lingered for awhile as I photographed Three Brothers and El Capitan. The moonlight eventually reached the trees and snow-covered sandbar along the Merced River, with mist still swirling around El Capitan, providing perfect light for this photograph.
Click here to purchase one of these prints. And please feel free to ask me questions, either by posting a comment below, or sending me an email. As always, thanks for your support!
— Michael Frye
Related Posts: A Clearing Storm by Moonlight; A Different Point of View
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
