In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | Aug 13, 2023 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Tufa formations and osprey at sunrise, Mono Lake, California
I love the diversity of our area. We live in the foothills on the western side of the Sierra Nevada, a region that includes rolling grasslands, oak savannah, chaparral, oak woodlands, and steep-sided river canyons. Just to the west of that is California’s Central Valley, an agricultural hub that also contains marshes and wetlands, hosting vast flocks of waterfowl in winter.
To our east lies the higher terrain of the Sierra, including the wondrous Yosemite Valley, plus magnificent conifer forests, meadows, canyons, rivers, lakes, and peaks. And when Tioga Pass is open we can reach the eastern side of the mountains in about two-and-a-half hours, where the trees give way to high desert, with sagebrush, junipers, pinyon pines, pronghorn antelope, wild horses, stunning views of the Sierra – and the uniquely beautiful shores of Mono Lake.
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by Michael Frye | Aug 7, 2023 | Announcements
Sunbeams, mist, Half Dome, and the Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California
High-contrast images can be challenging to process. How do you both darken highlights and lighten shadows, without making the image look too flat, weird, or over-processed?
On August 26th I’ll present a live webinar where I’ll demonstrate how to tackle this challenge. I’ll take you step-by-step through processing one or more high-contrast photographs, where you’ll learn powerful yet simple techniques for balancing contrast, while keeping the image lively and natural-looking. Here’s a partial list of the topics we’ll cover:
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by Michael Frye | Jul 30, 2023 | Light and Weather
Melting Ice #1. 400mm, 1/15 sec. at f/16, ISO 100, two-frame focus stack blended in Photoshop.
Claudia and I love going up to the Yosemite high country in summer. But we hadn’t been able to get up there because the Tioga Road opened so late. We’d been over to the eastern side of the Sierra a couple of times (via Sonora Pass), and we were even able to get up to the top of Tioga Pass from the east side on the last day of our Range of Light workshop. But we hadn’t seen Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake, or Tuolumne Meadows since last summer, which felt strange.
Tioga Road finally opened on July 22nd, by far the latest opening date ever. And two days later Claudia and I headed up and over the pass. It was great to see our familiar high-country haunts again, with lots of water in the meadows and creeks, and flowers beginning to bloom. We kept remarking on how everything is happening so late this year – at least a month later than usual.
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by Michael Frye | Jul 26, 2023 | Announcements
Tomorrow I’ll be joining the Out of Chicago team and ten other Out of Big Sur instructors to present a free webinar called From Lens to Print. We’ll all be sharing insights and practical advice on the photographic process, from before pressing the shutter to the finished print.
The Out of Big Sur photo conference next March will include a special emphasis on that whole process, including printing, because of the rich photographic history of that region. Many legendary photographers made that area their home, including Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, Morley Baer, and Henry Gilpin, and their “west coast” school of photography placed a great emphasis on printmaking.
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by Michael Frye | Jul 23, 2023 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Fields of arrowleaf balsamroot below Sierra peaks, Inyo NF, California. It was a bit of a grunt to climb up this hill through the sagebrush, but I thought this higher vantage point would allow me to see a succession of layers from foreground to middle ground to background, which could add more depth to the image. The dappled light and clouds were perfect complements to the scene. This is a stitched panorama (three shots), made quickly to capture fleeting light. 50mm, 1/125 sec. at f/16, ISO 100.
Tioga Pass through Yosemite finally opened yesterday, July 22nd. That’s the latest opening date ever – by far. The previous record was July 8th, way back in 1933, before the road was even paved. In 1938, the year after it was paved, Tioga Road opened on July 5th. But since 1938 it’s always opened by the end of June, except for 1998, when it opened July 1st. Even in the prodigious snow year of 1983 it opened on June 30th.
An exceptional set of circumstances conspired to make this year’s opening so late. First, there was a lot of snow. There’s some debate about whether this was a record year for snowfall in the Sierra; it’s actually a hard thing to measure, as there are a lot of variables. But it was certainly one of the snowiest years on record.
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by Michael Frye | Jul 2, 2023 | Light and Weather
Lenticular clouds at sunset, eastern Sierra Nevada, California
I don’t know many landscape photographers who like wind. Wind gyrates flowers and trees, making it hard to get sharp photos. It ruffles lakes, killing reflections. Wind can even shake a tripod-mounted camera, blurring images (especially with telephoto lenses). And it’s generally unpleasant to be out in the wind – especially when it’s cold.
But sometimes wind creates interesting opportunities. On the leeward side of a mountain range (usually the eastern side), or on isolated mountain peaks, wind often creates lenticular clouds, which can be incredibly beautiful and photogenic.
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by Michael Frye | Jun 25, 2023 | Light and Weather, Vision and Creativity
Redwoods, ferns, and rhododendrons, northern California coast. I’ve photographed sun breaking through fog in redwood forests many times, but it’s always a special treat. At this particular moment the sun highlighted the redwood trunk on the left, providing a visual focal point, with the ferns, rhododendrons, other trunks, and patches of sunlight all arranging themselves in a harmonious way. I consciously planted the tripod at a spot where I could see decent spacing and separation between the trunks.
Claudia and I have been traveling a lot this year, with trips to Mono Lake, Zion, Valley of Fire, Anza-Borrego and the Central Coast ranges for flowers, the Olympic Peninsula, and multiple visits to Death Valley – along with day trips to Yosemite, of course.
And recently we made another trip, this time to the northern California redwoods for our annual workshop there. But even though that was a long drive, it seemed like we were coming home, rather than leaving home. I always feel that way when we return to the redwoods, because I love that area so much.
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by Michael Frye | Jun 8, 2023 | Composition
Sun setting in a temperate rainforest, Olympic NP, Washington
After our Death Valley workshop, wildflower odysseys, and quick trip to Tucson for the NANPA Summit, Claudia and I flew up to Seattle and drove to the Olympic Peninsula for the Out of Olympic photography conference.
That was such a fun event, with a great group of participants, and wonderful instructors. It was great to meet or reconnect with so many good people. And, as usual, the conference was really well organized by Chris Smith and his Out of Chicago team.
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by Michael Frye | May 25, 2023 | Travels and Stories
Desert candles above a flower-filled arroyo, Coast Ranges, California
The last couple of months have been a whirlwind. We did a night-photography workshop in Death Valley in mid-April, which was really fun, with some great conditions. In early May I spoke at the NANPA Summit in Tucson, then immediately after that Claudia and I flew up to Washington for the Out of Olympic photography conference. Both those events were also lots of fun. We got to meet many wonderful people, connect with old friends, and photograph the beautiful rainforests and beaches of the Olympic Peninsula.
But meanwhile, all the winter rains in California had spawned an exceptional spring wildflower bloom, which we definitely wanted to see. So from early March to late April, sandwiched around our Death Valley workshop, and juggled with other events and projects, Claudia and I traveled to Antelope Valley, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and various locations in California’s Central Coast ranges.
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by Michael Frye | Apr 23, 2023 | Digital Darkroom, Video Tutorials
Lightroom’s Powerful New Denoise Tool
Adobe released major updates for Lightroom and Camera Raw last week (version 12.3 for Lightroom Classic, 6.3 for the cloud version or Lightroom, and 15.3 for Adobe Camera Raw). Lightroom Classic now has Curves in the Masking Panel, which I’ve been hoping to see for a long time. But I’ll talk about that later, because to me the most exciting news is the new AI-powered Denoise tool.
I’ve used most of the noise-reduction tools out there, but the new Denoise function in Lightroom and Camera Raw has quickly become my favorite. It’s not perfect, and it has limitations, but it’s performed minor miracles on some of my noisiest, most troublesome photos.
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