In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Nov 22, 2017 | Announcements
Ross’s geese at sunrise, San Joaquin Valley, CA, USA
The Thanksgiving holiday is always a good time to pause from our daily routines and think about all the things we have to be grateful for.
For me, first and foremost, I’m thankful for my family and friends. I’m happy that my son has flown the nest and is doing so well, and I’m especially fortunate to have been married to the same wonderful, beautiful woman for over 30 years.
And I’m extremely grateful for all the support I receive from you, my readers. Your comments and emails help make writing this blog fun, and keep me motivated and inspired. Thank you!
Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you all have a lot to be thankful for!
— Michael Frye
by Michael Frye | Nov 12, 2017 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Aspens and ferns, autumn, Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison NF, CO, USA
Claudia and I had wonderful conditions on our autumn trip to Colorado. As I said before, it wasn’t the best year for fall color there, but the weather more than made up for that, with rain, snow, fog, and lots of interesting clouds.
We chased the weather and color all over Colorado – or so it seemed. We reached the San Juan Mountains in the southwest corner of the state on September 27th, but found little color at that time. So we headed east and ended up near Twin Lakes, where I photographed aspens with snow and fog. Then we drove over Independence Pass and spent a couple of days around Aspen and Carbondale, braving the crowds to capture a misty view of the Maroon Bells.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 5, 2017 | Advanced Techniques
Late-October aspens near Silver Lake, June Lake Loop, Inyo NF, CA, USA. I used f/16 to get everything in focus in this 2008 photograph from the eastern Sierra. (The shutter speed was 1/6th second, the ISO 400.)
I sometimes post my camera settings here on the blog, and I’ve had many people ask me why I often use f/16. Is that the sharpest aperture on my lens? (No.) Don’t you get diffraction at f/16? (A little bit.) Is it for depth of field? (Bingo!)
As many of you know, most lenses are sharpest at middle apertures – generally around f/5.6 to f/11, depending on the lens.
Better lenses will perform decently at wide apertures like f/2.8 or f/4, but usually the corners are softer compared to the middle apertures. On the other end of the spectrum, at smaller apertures diffraction causes all lenses to get softer over the entire image (not just the corners).
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by Michael Frye | Oct 29, 2017 | Light and Weather, Yosemite Photo Conditions
Big-leaf maple leaves along the Merced River, autumn, Yosemite. 19mm, 2 seconds at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer.
Claudia and I spent Friday in Yosemite Valley checking out the fall color. And it was beautiful. The big-leaf maples, in particular, were quite colorful.
It was a clear, sunny day, so there wasn’t any weather to add drama to the valley landscapes. When the weather and light aren’t that interesting I tend to narrow my focus and photograph smaller subjects. And for those subjects, conditions were perfect. The low autumn sunlight kept some parts of the valley in shade virtually all day, and that soft light was perfect for highlighting the autumn color. Plus, from the south side of the Merced River you could look toward sunlit cliffs on the north side of the valley and find beautiful, golden reflections in the shaded water.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 26, 2017 | Digital Darkroom
I used the new Range Mask tool in Lightroom Classic CC to improve the green colors in this photo from Rabbit Ears Pass in Colorado
Adobe announced two new, different versions of Lightroom last week. And, unfortunately, the names have created a lot of confusion. Here are the essential things you need to know:
No More Perpetual License
Adobe will no longer make new standalone versions of Lightroom with a perpetual license. That means new versions of Lightroom will be available by subscription only. Lightroom 6 is the last non-subscription version that you can purchase outright. Lightroom 6 is still available for now, but won’t be updated to support new cameras. (You can still use Adobe’s free DNG converter to convert Raw images from new cameras into the DNG format, then import those DNG files into Lightroom 6.)
New Lightroom Classic CC
The new version of the program we’re familiar with is called Lightroom Classic CC. This is the traditional, folder-based version of Lightroom. It is essentially the same as Lightroom CC 2015, but with performance improvements and a new Range Mask tool that allows you to make more precise selections with the Adjustment Brush, Graduated Filter, and Radial Filter.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 22, 2017 | Travels and Stories, Yosemite Photo Conditions
Autumn scene along Rush Creek, Inyo NF, CA, USA
We just finished our workshop on the eastern side of the Sierra. When I arrived a few days before the workshop the aspen color was rather mixed, with bare trees, green trees, and every stage in between. But the weather was cold, and things turned quickly. By the time our workshop started most of the green leaves had turned yellow and orange, and we found lots of beautiful color – particularly along the June Lake Loop.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 9, 2017 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Maroon Bells in autumn, White River NF, CO, USA
Some photographers love photographing icons, and try to visit as many as possible. Others avoid them at all costs.
But I think most of us have mixed feelings about them. These iconic spots have a certain undeniable appeal. There are good reasons, after all, why these places have become iconic: they’re great locations. With the right conditions, it’s possible to capture some beautiful images at these spots. They work.
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by Michael Frye | Oct 1, 2017 | Travels and Stories
Autumn hillside with aspen and spruce trees, Pike-San Isabel NF, CO, USA
Claudia and I are in Colorado, chasing the fall color once again. By Colorado standards this is a below-average year for autumn color. Apparently a mid-May snowstorm damaged some of the just-sprouting aspen leaves, and those leaves are turning brown or dull yellow before falling off.
But many of the aspens seem to be undamaged. And it’s Colorado after all, where there are so many aspens that even in a “poor” year you can find plenty of colorful trees. And we’ve had some great weather, with rain, snow, fog, and lots of interesting clouds. The combination of weather and color has been really fun to photograph, and the constantly-changing conditions have kept me going from sunrise to sunset every day. Here are a few images showing some of the best moments so far, and I’m sure I’ll post more soon.
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by Michael Frye | Sep 9, 2017 | Announcements
Solar eclipse sequence, Sawtooth Mountains, ID, USA, August 21, 2017
Just a quick reminder that the special print sale ends tomorrow (Sunday, September 10th) at midnight Pacific time, so you still have time to get 25% off on prints of my solar eclipse photograph. You can see all the details about the sale here.
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by Michael Frye | Sep 5, 2017 | Announcements
Solar eclipse sequence, Sawtooth Mountains, ID, USA, August 21, 2017
When I posted this photograph of the solar eclipse over the Sawtooth Mountains, many people asked about purchasing prints. So we thought it might be time to offer another special sale for just this image, and I’m happy to announce that we’re offering this photograph at a discounted price through this Sunday. Until then you can get signed, numbered, unmatted, limited-edition prints of this photograph at 25% off the normal price, in three different sizes: 13×20, 16×24, and 20×30. My 13×20 unmatted prints normally sell for $275, but during this sale they’re only $206. The retail price for my 16×24 prints is usually $425, but until Sunday they’re only $319. And while my 20×30 prints are normally priced at $675, for this special sale they’re $506.
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