Snow and Sunbeams
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
1w ago
Half Dome and sunbeams, winter sunrise, Yosemite NP, California I’ve felt like a hamster on a wheel lately, running nonstop just to keep up with the most essential tasks. But I finally have a moment to breathe, and time to write a blog post! I made the photographs here in mid-February, after a weak storm moved through the Sierra. In a common pattern, it rained in Yosemite Valley during most of the storm, but the temperature dropped at the tail-end, leaving a dusting of new snow. At least that’s what I saw on the webcams early that morning. But when I arrived in the west end of the valley at ..read more
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Mystery and Wonder
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
3w ago
Lightning over the San Joaquin Valley from the Sierra Nevada foothills, California What elevates a photograph beyond the ordinary? Light, composition, and technical proficiency all play parts, but is there something more? I think so. The photographs that I respond to most strongly go beyond just showing what a scene looks like, and touch me on an emotional level. They suggest something bigger, more universal than the literal subject matter depicted in the image. They evoke a sense of mystery, or wonder, or awe, or surprise me by showing the world in an unexpected way. I think this is such an ..read more
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A Sense of Mystery
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
1M ago
Trail through redwoods in fog, northern California coast I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be joining Nic Stover’s Nature Photography Classes again for their Winter Speaker Series. This series is focused on “Discovering the Mood and Mystery in Our Images,” and includes three sessions: Franka Gabler, with “Conveying Mood and Capturing the Essence,” on February 26th; Michele Sons, with “The Art of Fog,” on March 5th; and then I’ll be presenting “A Sense of Mystery,” on March 11th. I decided to talk about mystery because I think this is an essential but often-overlooked component of successful ..read more
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Half Dome and Fog
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
1M ago
Half Dome above a fog layer at sunrise, Yosemite NP, California. This is actually two frames from my 50mm lens stitched together, as that lens wasn’t quite wide enough, but my next widest lens (35mm) was too wide. After photographing the trees in fog I described in this recent post, a few mornings later I went up to Yosemite Valley again as another storm was clearing. I climbed up to a different spot, with a view of Half Dome, and once again saw the valley floor covered in a shallow layer of fog, with trees poking out. But this time I also saw high clouds, and some mist wrapped around Half D ..read more
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Moonlight
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
2M ago
Yosemite Valley lit by the setting moon, with Jupiter above, Yosemite NP, California I’ve been working on my presentation The Magic of Moonlight for the Night Photo Summit next weekend. While going through some of my moonlit images from the past I found this set, all from the night of December 19th and 20th, 2015. Thinking about that night brings back some great memories. A winter storm started clearing around 9:00 p.m., so I headed up to Yosemite Valley, knowing that the two-thirds full moon was due to set at 1:45 a.m., and as it sank I might find some beautiful, low-angle moonlight to go a ..read more
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Trees and Fog
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
2M ago
Trees and waves of fog, Yosemite NP, California On a Sunday morning nine days ago I headed up to Yosemite Valley as a small storm was clearing. This system was on the warm side, so it rained at the valley elevation (around 4,000 feet). But there was still some snow on the ground from previous storms, and rain on top of snow is a fog-generating machine, so I figured there would be lots of fog and mist. And there was lots of mist when I arrived in the valley. I climbed up to one of my favorite off-the-beaten path viewpoints, thinking to capture a classic Yosemite clearing storm. But when I rea ..read more
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Join Me Again at the Night Photo Summit!
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
2M ago
  I’m happy to be joining the National Parks at Night team for the fourth annual Night Photo Summit next month! This will be my fourth time presenting at the Night Photo Summit, and the previous three have been really fun, so I’m excited to be invited back! This online conference is devoted exclusively to night photography, and I’ll be joining over 30 other distinguished instructors, including Josh Cripps, Sean Bagshaw, Jess Santos, Chris Smith, Jessica Rojas, Royce Bair, Melissa Kaelin, Lance Keimig, Tim Cooper, Chris Nicholson, Gabriel Biderman, and many more. I’ll be presenting The Ma ..read more
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Yosemite Snow
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
2M ago
Misty sunset from Tunnel View, Yosemite NP, California Last Tuesday night a small snowstorm moved through Yosemite. It’s been a dry winter so far, and this was the first significant snow in Yosemite Valley in quite awhile. It also looked like the storm might clear around sunrise, which was good timing. So Claudia and I rose early Wednesday morning and drove up to the Valley, where we found about four inches of new snow. It was great to see the trees decked out in white, and to feel the snow underfoot. Skies didn’t truly clear until late morning, but there were a few moments of beautiful ligh ..read more
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Lightroom Webinar: Mastering Color
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
2M ago
Aspen kaleidoscope, Uncompahgre NF, Colordao Color can be one of the trickiest aspects of image processing. How do you get the right white balance? How can you dial in enough saturation to make the image appear lively and vibrant, without it looking fake or garish? How do you get the right hues? How can you apply color grading effectively? In this live webinar I’ll demonstrate how to tackle this challenge as I take you step-by-step through processing one or more photographs, with an emphasis on handling color. I’ll cover all the basics, but also delve into the nuances that can give your imag ..read more
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My Top Photographs of 2023
Michael Frye Photography
by Michael Frye
2M ago
The votes are all in and counted, and here are my top photographs of 2023! We had a great response this year: 478 people looked through my initial selection of 45 images and voted for their favorites. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to look through these photographs and voice your opinions! I also really appreciate the kind words so many people posted in the comments or sent by email. I wish I could respond to everyone, but please know that I’ve read them all and am very grateful for all your support. To express our gratitude we’re giving away a print to one of the voters. We ass ..read more
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