In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Apr 10, 2025 | Composition, Light and Weather
Twisting wash, badlands, Southern California. The curvy lines of the wash and surrounding ridges created a design I could build a composition around. Soft sidelight from the post-sunset glow brought out the forms and textures of the land, without the harshness of direct sunlight.
In late March Claudia and I joined photographer friends in the deserts of Southern California. We enjoyed just hanging out together, but I also got to visit some badlands areas I’d never photographed before, which was lots of fun.
To me, photographing badlands is similar to photographing sand dunes. Both have acres of naked earth, sculpted into interesting shapes and forms by either wind or water. With badlands the shapes are more angular than in dunes, but you can find great designs in both environments.
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by Michael Frye | Mar 18, 2025 | Travels and Stories, Wildlife Photography
Mountains, glaciers, and chinstrap penguins, Antarctica
At the end of our trip to Antarctica for Visionary Wild, I told Claudia that the thing I was going to miss most was seeing penguins every day. It seemed strange to be heading back to a world without penguins, since they had been a daily part of our lives for two weeks.
And penguins are so much fun to watch. While supremely graceful in water, they’re awkward on land. Yet every day many penguins climb and descend from their nests on slopes so steep they would intimidate most humans. They fall all the time, but always seem to bounce back up and keep going. They’re determined and dedicated parents; they have to be to thrive and reproduce in this harsh environment. And they’re feisty. They won’t tolerate other penguins getting too close to their nest, or intruding on their space.
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by Michael Frye | Mar 9, 2025 | Announcements
“Twins” – sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest, Redwood National and State Parks
With the sudden layoffs of over 1,000 National Park Service employees, my friend Eric Bennett had an idea: to create and sell a boxed set of prints as a fundraiser to help these people in their time of need. I was happy to join in, and along with eight other photographers we’re offering a boxed set of ten 8×12 prints, one from each of us, for $199. 100% of the proceeds will go to directly support National Park Service employees affected by these cuts, many of whom have lost both their jobs and housing with no notice or time to prepare. Because of the urgency associated with this project, this print set will only be available for purchase through March 23rd, 2025.
I have always loved and appreciated our national parks. I lived in Yosemite for 25 years. I’ve made many of my best photographs in national parks, but more importantly, I treasure the experiences I’ve had in the wild and unspoiled reaches of these beautiful places. These lands have been set aside so that all Americans have the opportunity to experience their natural beauty and wild character, things that have become increasingly rare and precious in our modern world.
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by Michael Frye | Mar 4, 2025 | Digital Darkroom
Winter sunrise from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, California
After all our travels, Claudia and I are back home. Yesterday I drove up to Yosemite Valley before sunrise, as a small storm was clearing.
Looking at the weather models the night before, I didn’t have high hopes for this sunrise. Although I thought there could be a light dusting of snow, it appeared the storm would clear in the middle of the night, which usually means the fog and mist will dissipate by morning. But I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. just in case. And when I awoke I could see that clouds and scattered showers had lingered all night, so there should still be some mist. And it also looked like skies would start clearing shortly after sunrise. So no going back to bed – time to go!
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by Michael Frye | Mar 2, 2025 | Composition
Japanese rowan tree in a thermal area, Hokkaido, Japan. A complex photograph that I discuss in depth below.
Hokkaido has become known for its minimalist landscapes, with trees, fences, or other objects isolated against the snowy winter backdrop. These zen-like compositions can be striking and beautiful, and I made my share of sparing, super-simple photographs there, following in the footsteps of Shinzo Maeda and Michael Kenna.
But there are many ways to photograph any location. My co-instructor on our Hokkaido trip for Visionary Wild, Toshiki Nakanishi, has lived in central Hokkaido for 20 years, and his images tend to be more complex and dramatic. Check out this image, for example – taken from his house! (With a telephoto lens.) Or this amazing photo.
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by Michael Frye | Feb 26, 2025 | Travels and Stories
Sun, tree, snow, and cloud iridescence, Hokkaido, Japan. We were actually headed back to the hotel for breakfast when the sun broke through clouds, creating some beautiful light. My co-leader on this trip, Toshiki Nakanishi, knew just the spot to head for, with this lone tree on a snowy hillside. I bracketed five frames, two stops apart, to get detail in the bright clouds as well as the foreground shadows. The blue and gold colors near the sun are cloud iridescence in ice clouds.
After returning from Antarctica, Claudia and I spent a week at home, then flew across the Pacific to lead another trip for Visionary Wild on Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island.
Hokkaido is known for its abundant snow in winter, and has become a popular destination for skiers and snowboarders. We saw many, many skis and snowboards on the luggage carousel at the Sapporo airport.
Hokkaido has also become known in the photography world for its minimalist winter landscapes, with trees, fences, and other objects isolated against the white, snowy backdrop. Shinzo Maeda produced some beautifully-simple color work in Hokkaido in the 80s and 90s, and then Michael Kenna brought his singular style of black-and-white photography to the island in the early 2000s (and continues to photograph Hokkaido today).
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by Michael Frye | Feb 6, 2025 | Travels and Stories
Iceberg at sunset, Antarctica. As if putting on a grand finale, we passed a large, beautifully-shaped iceberg just after sunset, with colorful clouds lingering in the sky to the south.
As I said in my last post, I had a wonderful and eye-opening introduction to Antarctica. But the next day, January 18th, would be even better.
By this second morning we were all starting to get used to the rhythms of life on board the ship, and our group had quickly gelled. We had a really great group, and had lots of fun together. And the crew members of the Hans Hansson were all super nice, going out of their way to make us all feel comfortable and give us the best experience possible.
The day began with overcast skies – which gave us a little extra sleep, since there wasn’t a compelling reason to get up for sunrise at 3:00 a.m.! But later in the morning skies started to clear.
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by Michael Frye | Feb 2, 2025 | Travels and Stories
Chinstrap penguin calling, Antarctica. On our first zodiac excursion we encountered these two chinstraps posing for us on an iceberg in a snowstorm.
Claudia and I just returned home from Antarctica. What a wonderful trip! It’s hard to believe that this place actually exists here on earth, because it seems so different than everywhere else on the planet. It’s other-worldly, yet strikingly beautiful.
I made a lot of photos on this trip – over 35,000! Some of that was wildlife photography, which demands capturing many frames to catch the right pose or moment of action. And most of the landscape photos were also hand-held from a moving ship or zodiac, where I had to capture a series of frames to ensure catching the right angle as we passed one compelling scene after another. But the biggest problem was that the place is just so damned beautiful that there were photos everywhere I looked!
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by Michael Frye | Jan 24, 2025 | Travels and Stories
Fog, ice, and mountains, Antarctica
Claudia and I are having a wonderful time in Antarctica. It’s just an amazing, other-worldly place. And we’ve had great conditions, with unusually calm winds, and some beautiful light and weather.
I’m co-leading this trip for Visionary Wild with Chris Linder, who’s a super-nice guy, and a wonderful photographer and teacher. Our crew aboard the Hans Hansson has been great, getting us into lots of beautiful spots that bigger ships can’t get into, and happily making diversions to circle an interesting iceberg, or check out an ice arch, or get us into the right spots to take advantage of the light. And we have a wonderful group of participants, which always makes it more fun. It’s a small group – only nine participants – and we’re all having a great time together.
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by Michael Frye | Jan 6, 2025 | Announcements
Wave splash at sunset, Oregon Coast
Using Lightroom’s Local Adjustments to Create Powerful Visual Stories
“Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships!”
— Ansel Adams
Successful photographs use light and composition to draw the viewer’s eye to the right spots – the places the photographer wants people to notice. But, as Ansel Adams points out, sometimes nature needs a little help!
When processing images, I probably spend 90% of my time on local adjustments. That includes dodging and burning (lightening and darkening), but also many other subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the luminance, color, and contrast in particular parts of the photograph.
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