Bison calf kicking up its heels, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming After our visit to the Tetons, Claudia and I spent a couple of days in Yellowstone before heading home. Since we were only there for two days, we didn’t see the variety of animals we saw in the Tetons, but did get to watch a large bison herd with numerous young calves. These calves (often called “red dogs” because of their reddish fur) were endlessly entertaining – chasing each other, butting heads, kicking up their heels, or zooming around and around in circles to expend excess energy. Here are some photos of those adorable calves, al ..read more

The Teton Range from Jackson Lake at sunrise, Grand Teton NP, Wyoming Claudia and I had such a great time in the Tetons, before and during the Out of Grand Teton photo conference. The conference went smoothly, as we’ve come to expect from the Out of Chicago folks. We had a great group of participants and fellow instructors, and it was fun hanging out with everyone – teaching, learning, and photographing this beautiful area. Special thanks to my wonderful teaching partner for the conference, Charlotte Gibb, and to Chris Smith, Jennifer Renwick, and all of the Out of Chicago team for making th ..read more

Misty evening light along the Oregon coast. I thought a slow shutter speed (1 second) complemented the soft, misty, painterly light in this scene. If you want to make expressive photographs – ones that capture a mood, or tell a story – then light, composition, and timing (the moment you capture) are usually the most powerful tools in your arsenal. Those three essential elements largely define the message and feeling of a photograph. But while these tools are vital, they’re not the only ones at our disposal. We also have camera controls, like shutter speed, aperture, and filters. And we can u ..read more

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 flo ..read more

Melting Ice #1, Yosemite NP, CA, USA. This photograph of mine earned fourth place in the Abstracts and Details category in 2023. There’s still time to enter the Natural Landscape Photography Awards contest! The deadline is next Friday, May 31st. And you can still get a 10% discount on entries by using the code FRYE10. I’m honored to be one of the judges this year, alongside my distinguished fellow judges Viktoria Haack, Lizzie Shepherd, Matt Palmer, and Ben Horne. This year there will be $14,500 in cash prizes, with awards for Natural Landscape Photographer of the Year, Natural Landscape Pho ..read more

Rapid and reflections in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon NP, Arizona. The lower-right portion of this photograph had a large blemish caused by a water spot on the sensor. This would have been difficult to remove using traditional retouching tools in Lightroom or Photoshop, but took about five seconds with the new Generative-AI mode in Lightroom. Yesterday Adobe announced significant upgrades to Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Camera Raw. To me, the biggest news is the addition of “Generative AI” for retouching. This uses similar technology to Generative Fill in Photoshop, but isn’t design ..read more

Pines, mist, and Lower Cathedral Rock, Yosemite NP, California (March 30th) In between trips to Death Valley, Anza-Borrego, Big Sur, and Arkansas (for the eclipse), Claudia and I found ourselves at home, near Yosemite. Not a bad place to be. When at home I always keep my eye out for interesting weather. And even though we didn’t have any really big storms this past winter, we had lots of smaller storms, and therefore many opportunities to photograph misty scenes of clearing storms. As beautiful as Yosemite Valley is, it’s hard to make photographs that capture what it actually feels like to b ..read more

El Capitan emerging from clouds, Yosemite NP, California. This photo was awarded first place in the Grand Landscape category of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards in 2021. I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be a judge this year for the Natural Landscape Photography Awards! From its inception, I’ve felt that this contest’s goals align with mine: making photographs that celebrate the beauty of nature – without excessive manipulation, and where the photographer’s skill and vision behind the camera are more important than their Photoshop skills. I’ve entered this competition in each of its ..read more

Total solar eclipse, April 8, 2024, northeast Arkansas The “diamond ring” and solar flares as the sun emerges from a total solar eclipse, April 8, 2024, northeast Arkansas I started thinking about the 2024 solar eclipse right after our last one in 2017. Claudia and I, along with our friend Robert Eckhardt, viewed that eclipse from the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, and it was such an amazing experience I immediately wanted to do it again. When I looked at this 2024 eclipse, the best part was the length – four-and-a-half minutes of totality in Mexico and Texas, compared with only a little ove ..read more

Dunes in a sandstorm at sunrise, Death Valley NP, California Death Valley is a dynamic place. While the appearance of other landscapes frequently changes because of weather and seasonal changes, in Death Valley the land itself undergoes routine transformations caused by wind and water – especially the infrequent, but highly destructive, flash floods. Last August Tropical Storm Hilary dumped over two inches of rain on Death Valley, washing out roads, closing the park for two months, and filling Badwater Basin with water – a resurrection of ancient Lake Manly. We visited Death Valley in late D ..read more