Announcements

Black Friday Sale!

Landscapes in Lightroom 5 Cover

Yes, we’re having a Black Friday sale too! Here at our world headquarters in downtown Mariposa, California, we’ve cooked up two sweet deals:

35% Off Landscapes in Lightroom 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide

Normally $14.95, this ebook and video package is now only $9.95! You don’t have to enter a discount code – that’s just the price until midnight Pacific Time on Monday, December 2nd.

In this ebook I take you step-by-step through processing six images in Lightroom. You can download the Raw files so you can follow along yourself, plus you get exclusive access to eight videos demonstrating different aspects of Lightroom’s Develop Module.

This is a great gift for the photographer on your Christmas list! Just click “Add to Cart” underneath the words “Gift Coupon.”

40% Off The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite iPhone/iPad App

This app is a must-have for any photographer visiting Yosemite. Normally it sells for $6.99, but until midnight Pacific Time on December 2nd it’s only $3.99! Click here to go to the iTunes store, and once again there are no discount codes you need to enter.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunbeams and corona in a redwood forest, CA, USA

Sunbeams and corona in a redwood forest, CA, USA

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States, a day of gratitude.

As a photographer, one of the things I’m thankful for is the art and craft of photography itself. Photography encourages me to get out and see things I would otherwise miss. I’ve been lucky to witness so many extraordinarily beautiful moments that I would never have seen without the camera tugging at me and telling me to go look – to pay attention to the beauty around me.

And I’m always especially thankful for all of you, my readers. Your participation, ideas, and passion for photography make writing this blog a pleasure. Thank you so much for your support!

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday, filled with good company, good food, and many things to be grateful for.

— Michael Frye

Yosemite Closed by Government Shutdown

It’s official: the impasse in Washington has led to a government shutdown, and all national parks will be closed, including Yosemite. Apparently the Tioga Road will remain open to through traffic, but no parking will be allowed. “Through” roads are supposed to remain open, but it’s unclear at this point whether that means any other roads will be open in Yosemite besides the Tioga Road. Visitors staying in campgrounds or hotels within the park will have 48 hours to vacate.

There’s not much information coming from the park, no doubt because most of the park service employees have just been furloughed! I’ll let you know if I get any further information.

— Michael Frye

We Need Your Help in Solving a Mystery

Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, and Bridalveil Fall after a snowstorm, Yosemite NP, CA, USA,

Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, and Bridalveil Fall after a snowstorm, Yosemite NP, February 9th, 2009

Clearing Winter Storm is my favorite Ansel Adams photograph. To me it captures the majesty and grandeur of Yosemite Valley like no other image.

(I wish I could show the photograph here, but I’d violate copyright laws in doing so. You can click this link to see Clearing Winter Storm. The image shown here is one of mine that was made on February 9th, 2009.)

The funny thing is, no one knows when this famous image was made. Ansel had a notoriously bad memory for dates, and various years have been given by him and others for this photograph, ranging from 1935 to 1944. In his book Examples, Ansel wrote that the image “came about on an early December day,” but again, his memory was not particularly reliable about such things.

A couple of years ago, Don Olson contacted me about dating this photograph. Don is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Texas State University, and he and his colleagues have used the position of the moon to find the precise date and time that Ansel captured two images: Moon and Half Dome, and Autumn Moon, the High Sierra From Glacier Point.

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Rim Fire News

Pastel-colored smoke from the Rim Fire at sunset, 8/26/13, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

Pastel-colored smoke from the Rim Fire at sunset, 8/26/13, Yosemite NP, CA, USA

I’ve been spending every spare moment photographing the Rim Fire, but I’ve finally had a chance to process some images. I made this photograph Monday evening, as smoke spilled over from the Tuolumne watershed into the Merced watershed near Yosemite Creek, creating a layered view of pastel-colored trees.

The Rim Fire has become the largest fire in the recorded history of the Sierra Nevada, though undoubtedly much larger fires regularly swept through these mountains before Europeans arrived here. At 192,737 acres, the Rim Fire is also the sixth largest in California history, and seems almost certain to pass the Witch Fire (197,990 acres) for fifth place.

The fire’s growth has slowed considerably. Estimated containment for the Rim Fire is 30%, which represents a lot of progress for firefighters within the last few days.

Highway 120 west of Yosemite remains closed indefinitely. Within the park, Highway 120 is temporarily closed from the park’s western boundary to Yosemite Creek. This means that you can’t drive from Yosemite Valley over Tioga Pass to Lee Vining and Mono Lake (or vice versa). You can reach Tuolumne Meadows, Tenaya Lake, etc., by taking another route to Lee Vining, and driving into the park over Tioga Pass, but you’ll have to turn around at Yosemite Creek and leave the park via the same route.

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