Light and Weather
by Michael Frye | Nov 17, 2024 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Crashing wave on a foggy morning, Oregon Coast
We just finished another edition of our Oregon Coast workshop, and once again had a great time. We had a really nice group of people, which always makes it more fun for everyone. And we encountered some wonderfully stormy weather.
The forecasts for the workshop showed a series of storms, and rain every day. But that didn’t mean nonstop rain. I knew there would be breaks, and those breaks could generate some interesting light.
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by Michael Frye | Nov 7, 2024 | Light and Weather, Travels and Stories
Fog and Negit Island, sunrise, Mono Lake, California
On our way home from Montana last month, Claudia and I stopped for the night in Lee Vining (near Mono Lake, just east of Yosemite). We met our friends Charlotte and Gary Gibb there, and had dinner with them at the Whoa Nellie Deli.
It was raining – the first significant weather we’d encountered on our whole trip. Then, just before sunset, the rain stopped, and we saw signs of clearing, so we rushed out to the shore of Mono Lake to catch the sunset. While we didn’t see the sun breaking through, we caught a nice sunset glow over the lake:
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by Michael Frye | Oct 13, 2024 | Composition, Light and Weather
Misty sunrise from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, California. Where does your eye go in this photograph? Here the brightest areas are in the middle of the image, while the edges are darker, helping to draw the eye into the picture, rather than out of the frame.
We launched our first online workshop about composition about 18 months ago, and then more recently added additional online workshops focused on light. I picked these topics because I think they are, hands down, the two most important aspects of photography.
In photography, nothing is more fundamental than light. When we press the shutter, we record the light falling on the film or sensor at that moment. Light is literally the medium we’re working with, and the quality of the light has everything to do with the mood and message of the photograph.
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by Michael Frye | Aug 11, 2024 | Light and Weather
Sunset clouds, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP, California. Light from the setting sun caught some virga (rain that doesn’t reach the ground) falling from a passing thunderstorm.
I’ve been lucky to live in or near Yosemite for the last 40 years. It’s such a wonderful place. And for about five months of the year, when the Tioga Road is open, I can easily get up to the cool, uncrowded, beautiful high country. It’s always a treat to breathe the thin, pine-scented air while hiking to a secluded alpine lake, or a field of wildflowers.
Last year the Tioga Road didn’t open until July 22nd, its latest opening date ever, which limited the time we got to spend in the high country. But this year Claudia and I got to hang out up there for extended periods before, during, and after our Starry Skies and Range of Light workshops. While not at the record levels like 2023, we did have a good snowpack this year, keeping the water levels high in the creeks and rivers, and creating some nice wildflower displays. We also saw monsoonal moisture sometimes pushing up into the mountains, creating clouds, showers, and thunderstorms, which makes things exciting – and makes for interesting photographs. In other words, it was really beautiful.
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by Michael Frye | Jul 28, 2024 | Light and Weather
Sunbeams over Negit Island, Mono Lake, California. 91mm, 1/500 sec. at f/16, ISO 100.
Claudia and I recently returned from our annual workshop in the Yosemite high country. It was super fun, as usual, with a great group, and lots of interesting weather and clouds.
Before and during the workshop I photographed several sunrises and sunsets at Mono Lake. One of the things I love about Mono Lake is that it’s a great setting for light shows created by passing weather – clouds, virga, sunbeams, rainbows, and even lightning. The lake’s expanse allows you to include lots of sky, and capture some of that sky reflected in the water.
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by Michael Frye | May 26, 2024 | Light and Weather
Dogwoods, mist, and Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite NP, California
Before I left for my raft trip down the Grand Canyon, Claudia and I had a chance to go up to Yosemite Valley to see dogwoods. We picked a rainy, showery day, because interesting weather often generates interesting photo opportunities.
We made a circuit around the valley to check on conditions, and found lots of dogwoods blooming. Some were still in that stage where the blossoms (actually bracts) are green, but most were fully out, and beautiful, with white blossoms, but not yet leafing out, so the leaves didn’t compete with the flowers.
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