In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Aug 13, 2019 | Travels and Stories
Sunset and sandstone formations, Oregon coast. 16mm, five bracketed exposures at f/16, ISO 100, blended with Lightroom’s HDR Merge, then blended back with one of the original images in Photoshop to eliminate ghosting.
Recently Claudia and I visited our friends Gary and Charlotte Gibb up near Mt. Shasta, where they were renting a house for the week. We had a great time hanging out with them for a couple of days. And then we thought, we’re so close, maybe we should visit the Oregon coast. So we did.
I’ve never spent much time along the Oregon coast, but it’s a beautiful area, and a popular photography destination for a reason, so it’s one of those places that I’ve wanted to explore more thoroughly.
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Aug 4, 2019 | Night Photography
Old truck and shed underneath the Milky Way, Bodie. Nighttime photography can get pretty complex, often requiring multiple frames to reduce noise, or create intricate lighting. Here I captured twelve frames of the Milky Way, and blended them together with Starry Landscape Stacker to reduce noise. Then I took that image into Photoshop, where I blended it with seven light-painting frames – the truck from two sides, the shed from two sides, a frame for the interior lights (small lights placed inside the shed and against the truck windows), and two frames for lighting the headlights.
On Thursday I had an opportunity to photograph Bodie at night. I’ve done that many times before, but always while leading a workshop group. This time I joined a small group of photographers on my friend Rick Whitacre‘s permit, and the five of us had this amazing ghost town to ourselves for an evening.
It’s always fun leading a group in Bodie, but it was nice, for a change, to just concentrate on my own photography. I had a mental checklist of images I hadn’t been able to try yet, and this was the perfect chance to do that. We also had a couple hours of daylight to scout, and I found several new possibilities. The most intriguing of these, to me, was a star-trail image of wagons in an old barn, which I ended up trying – it’s the first image below.
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jul 28, 2019 | Light and Weather, Yosemite Photo Conditions
ice fingers, Yosemite. 200mm, 1/4 second at f/16, ISO 100, focus-stacked and blended with Helicon Focus.
I always try to drive over Tioga Pass right after it opens in hopes of finding still-snowy peaks, and melting ice on some of the high-country lakes. This year’s big snowpack delayed the full opening of Tioga Road until July 1st, so I thought there would still be lots of snow up there. But when we drove over the pass on July 2nd we found less snow and ice than I expected. The peaks had some snow, but not as much as in 2017, and the lakes near the road were ice-free.
Later, while scouting for our high-country workshop, I did find some ice on higher lakes, away from the road. And our workshop group got to photograph a small patch of ice on one lake before it all melted. I think if we had arrived at that lake one day later the ice would have been gone.
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jul 21, 2019 | Workshops
Sunset glow on the Tuolumne River, Yosemite. On our last evening some high clouds to the west turned orange and red at sunset, reflecting that golden glow into the water. 35mm, 1/2 second at f/16, ISO 500.
Claudia and I just got back home after spending about ten days in the eastern Sierra and Yosemite high country for our Range of Light workshop.
We borrowed the name of this workshop from John Muir, who famously called the Sierra Nevada “The Range of Light.” It’s worth reading the full quote – Muir at his best:
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jul 11, 2019 | Composition
Ridges and peaks above the fog in the Sierra Nevada foothills, California (170mm)
One of my most popular posts was about creating a sense of depth in landscape photographs. In that post I talked about the most common formula for creating depth: a near-far juxtaposition with a wide-angle lens. And then I looked at other, less-common ways of creating depth, like atmospheric effects, perspective lines, and using an elevated vantage point to show a foreground, middle ground, and background. (If you haven’t read that post I recommend doing so; you’ll find it here.)
Creating a sense of depth in a two-dimensional medium like photography can be challenging. There’s no question that the wide-angle, near-far formula works, and in general it’s easier to make photographs with depth using shorter focal lengths rather than longer ones. Telephoto lenses are often better suited to compressing space, and finding two-dimensional patterns and designs out of a three-dimensional world.
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jun 30, 2019 | Announcements, Yosemite Photo Conditions
Sun breaking through mist, Yosemite, July 2011
Tioga Pass will be opening fully tomorrow, July 1st – one of its latest opening dates ever. For the past week or so the pass has been open on a limited basis, from 10 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. each day, with no stopping or “recreating” allowed. But starting tomorrow it will be open 24 hours, with stopping and recreating – including photography! – permitted.
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jun 26, 2019 | Announcements
Clearing storm by moonlight from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
I’m pleased to announce that Kirk Keeler and I will have an exhibit of nighttime photographs at The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite from June 30th to August 17th. Called “Yosemite at Night,” the show will offer a different perspective on this park by showing its iconic landscapes under the light of the moon and stars.
The gallery will be holding an artist’s reception on July 24th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The Ansel Adams Gallery is located next to the Visitor Center in Yosemite Valley.
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jun 23, 2019 | Composition
Storm clouds over Half Dome and Nevada Fall from Glacier Point, Yosemite
When we look at a photograph our eyes are usually drawn to light areas, bright colors, and contrast. Therefore I always try to avoid having bright spots, vivid colors, or anything contrasty and eye-catching along the edges of my photographs. I’d rather put the most visually-prominent elements closer to the middle of the picture, to draw the viewer’s eye into the frame, rather than out of it.
I was very conscious of that last Monday when composing the photograph above. Thunderstorms had formed over the Sierra crest, so Claudia and I drove up to Glacier Point, hoping to photograph some interesting weather. We arrived just as a thunderstorm was approaching from the northeast, bringing dark, dramatic clouds. There was no sunlight, but the sky had great textures, and lent a nice, stormy mood to the scene. I used my widest lens (16mm) to include as much of that brooding sky as possible.
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jun 20, 2019 | Announcements
Sunbeams, Mist, Half Dome, and the Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California
Just a reminder that the special Ansel Adams Gallery print sale ends Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time, so you still have time to get 25% off two of my images: Swirling Clouds and Mist, Sunrise, and Sunbeams, Mist, Half Dome, and the Merced River (shown above). You can see all the details about the sale in this earlier post, or go directly to The Ansel Adams Gallery’s website to purchase a print.
The response to this offer so far has been wonderful; thanks so much for your support!
(more…)
by Michael Frye | Jun 17, 2019 | Announcements
Swirling Clouds and Mist, Sunrise, Yosemite National Park, California
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 Swirling Clouds and Mist, Sunrise, and Sunbeams, Mist, Half Dome, and the Merced River. I’ve posted these two photographs on this blog before, of course – in fact Sunbeams, Mist, Half Dome, and the Merced River was selected by you, my readers, as one of my ten best photographs of 2018. 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, or a 24×30 print, normally $750, for only $562. This is a rare chance to purchase one of my photographs at a reduced price, but the sale lasts just one week, until Sunday, June 23rd, at 6:00 PM Pacific time. Visit the Ansel Adams Gallery website to purchase a print or get more details.
(more…)
