In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
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 go 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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by Michael Frye | Jan 5, 2025 | Announcements
The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top photographs of 2024!
We had a great response this year: 627 people looked through my initial selection of 45 images and voted for their favorites. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to look through these photographs and voice your opinions! I also really appreciate the kind words so many people posted in the comments or sent by email. I wish I could respond to everyone, but please know that I’ve read them all and am very grateful for all your support.
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by Michael Frye | Jan 4, 2025 | Announcements
14. Dappled light above the Colorado River, Grand Canyon NP, Arizona
Just a reminder that this is the last day to cast your votes for my best photographs of 2024. You have until midnight! Again, please don’t send your votes to me by email, or post them in the comments, or they won’t be counted. Use the form at the bottom of my previous post to cast your votes.
(Voting has closed.)
Thanks to everyone who already voted! I appreciate your help. 🙂
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by Michael Frye | Dec 31, 2024 | Announcements
Happy New Year! Once again I’m inviting you, my faithful blog readers, to help me choose my best photographs from the past year. I’ve posted 45 of my favorite images from 2024 below, in chronological order. After you look through these, please use the form at the bottom of this post to list your ten favorites.
The voting deadline is midnight Pacific Time this Saturday, January 4th. Voting has closed.
You don’t have to list your ten favorites in any order; just pick up to ten images. Once the votes are in I’ll post the top ten or twelve on this blog. (The number for each photo is in the caption underneath the photograph. Also, you can click on the images to see them larger.)
As always, I reserve the right to override the votes if one of my favorites gets panned. But I’ve rarely had to exercise this power because my readers have excellent taste. 🙂
Thanks for your input — I appreciate your help!
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