In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Dec 31, 2016 | Announcements, Night Photography
Moonlit winter night with Half Dome, Glacier Point, and the Merced River, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful year in 2017.
Tomorrow I’ll be posting the nominees for my best photos of 2016, and you’ll get a chance to vote for your favorites and help me pick the top ten. Keep an eye out for the post! You can see last year’s nominees here, and the winners here.
I made this image around 4:20 a.m. last Saturday morning (Christmas Eve) after a few of inches of snow fell in Yosemite Valley. I actually drove up to the valley around 9:30 on Friday evening, since it looked like the storm was about to clear. But clouds and snow flurries persisted for awhile, and skies didn’t start to clear in ernest until after midnight.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 28, 2016 | Vision and Creativity
Reflections along the Merced River, winter, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
It’s become a tradition on this blog to ask my readers to help pick my best images of the year, so on January 1st I’ll be posting the nominees for 2016 and asking all of you to vote for your favorites. It’s always fun to see what people pick!
Last year readers voted this snow scene into the top ten. It actually got the fifth-most votes, which was a pleasant surprise for an intimate landscape like this. (You can see last year’s nominees here, and the top ten here.)
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by Michael Frye | Dec 24, 2016 | Announcements
Moon over Yosemite Valley
Claudia and I wish you a very Merry Christmas! And happy first day of Hanukkah! We hope you have a wonderful holiday, full of peace, joy, and the love of family and friends.
I made this photograph on the same night as the moonrise from Gates of the Valley image in my last post. After leaving the Gates I headed up to Tunnel View. For some reason I thought the moon would be behind Cathedral Rocks from there, but instead the moon was plainly visible right over the valley. I would usually avoid photographing right into the moon, for the same reasons I would usually avoid photographing right into the sun: a high probability of lens flare, and extreme contrast. But on that night the backlit mist and clouds were beautiful, so I gave it a try.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 20, 2016 | Light and Weather, Night Photography
Moonrise from Gates of the Valley, Yosemite
As I described in my last post, I drove up to Yosemite Valley last Friday afternoon to see and photograph the high water. Then after sunset I hung around for awhile, waiting for the moon to rise.
The 86% moon was due to rise just after 8:00 p.m. When photographing a moonrise, moonset, sunrise, or sunset, one of the most important considerations is the exact angle or azimuth of the sun or moon. We all know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Most people also know that in the summer, in the northern hemisphere, the sun rises and sets further north, and in the winter it rises and sets further south. The moon, of course, also rises in the east and sets in the west. But compared to the sun its path changes much more rapidly, varying as much in two weeks as the sun does in six months.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 18, 2016 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Rainbow and Upper Yosemite Fall from Swinging Bridge, Yosemite, Friday afternoon
On Thursday night a large rainstorm hit California. The National Weather Service predicted minor flooding in Yosemite Valley during the night, so the park service pre-emptively closed all the roads in Yosemite Valley at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
That was disappointing, since I wanted to drive up to the valley the next morning to see the high water. As it turned out, the Merced River didn’t reach flood stage, everything was fine, and they reopened the roads at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. By that time it was too late to drive up and catch the morning light, so I decided to head to the park in the afternoon.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 11, 2016 | Night Photography, Yosemite Photo Conditions
Misty night, Gates of the Valley, Yosemite
After a long dry spell we finally got some rain. The first storm arrived Thursday, and then a second, wetter system reached us yesterday. Altogether Yosemite Valley received over three inches of rain since late Wednesday. It’s been warm, with the snow levels near 9,000 feet, so there was no new snow in Yosemite Valley, but that warm rain melted generous quantities of snow leftover from previous storms, so the waterfalls are roaring like spring.
Thursday’s storm cleared after sunset, so at about 9:00 o’clock I decided to drive up to the valley for some night photography. I arrived to find plenty of low-lying mist, with the two-thirds-full moon lighting the cliffs above. It was really beautiful, but the moon was high overhead, making the lighting challenging. Then as the moonset approached things got more interesting. Some higher clouds moved in, and those clouds started to catch some color from the setting moon. I couldn’t see that color, of course, but the camera’s LCD screen showed it clearly.
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by Michael Frye | Dec 5, 2016 | Night Photography
Light beam, Milky Way, and arch, Alabama Hills, CA, USA
Landscape photographers usually work alone, or with a few other people. Even during workshops, when we might have 10 or 12 photographers in the same general area, each person is usually working on their own compositions.
But in our night-photography workshops there’s often a lot more collaboration. It’s common for groups of people to work on photographing the same subject, taking turns with light-painting, and exchanging ideas about how best to light and photograph the scene. And often the collective wisdom produces some interesting ideas.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 30, 2016 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Clearing snowstorm from Tunnel View, Yosemite, 8:53 a.m. Sunday
The first snow of the season fell in Yosemite Valley Saturday night, so of course Claudia and I had to go up and see the snow. Getting to the valley Sunday morning was a challenge; Highway 140 between the entrance station and the valley hadn’t been plowed, and it was a mess. Near the old dam (the junction of highways 140 and 120) there were about eight inches of snow on the ground, and a single track to follow through the snow. We had to wait about 15 minutes while an SUV put on chains in the middle of the road. But we made it through, and once we reached the valley the roads were plowed, and the driving easier.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 28, 2016 | Announcements
El Capitan by moonlight, Yosemite NP, CA, USA
Just a reminder that the special Ansel Adams Gallery print sale ends tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time, so you still have time to get 25% off two of my images: El Capitan by Moonlight, and Half Dome and North Dome from the Four-Mile Trail. 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 here.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 24, 2016 | Announcements
Cottonwood trees and fog at sunrise, San Joaquin Valley, CA, USA
On this Thanksgiving Day I want to express my appreciation to you, my blog readers, for all your support. It’s great to discuss photography with people who share the same passion, and your participation makes writing this blog fun. Thank you so much!
Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving I hope you all have many things to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!
— Michael Frye
