CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-16 20:51:04 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 12 +1s)

The Yosemite Falls webcam now shows live streaming video!

2013-05-13 19:08:56 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A reminder for fellow Sierra Nevada photographers and enthusiasts - there is a new Google Plus community for you: Sierra Nevada: Photographs from the Range of Light

And you are invited... ;-)

2013-05-10 18:09:35 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 20 +1s)

Spring Continues in Yosemite

One afternoon during my Spring Digital Camera workshop last week I found time to make this image, with dogwoods juxtaposed against reflections in the Merced River. This is good example of the kind of small-scale lighting event I wrote about on my blog recently; late in the day the sun hit trees and bushes along the opposite bank of the river, creating multi-colored reflections in the water behind this group of dogwoods.

You can see some more recent images, and read about where you can still photograph dogwoods in Yosemite, in this blog post:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/05/10/spring-continues-in-yosemite/

2013-05-10 18:00:53 (14 comments, 2 reshares, 81 +1s)

Spring Continues in Yosemite

One afternoon during my Spring Digital Camera workshop last week I found time to make this image, with dogwoods juxtaposed against reflections in the Merced River. This is good example of the kind of small-scale lighting event I wrote about on my blog recently; late in the day the sun hit trees and bushes along the opposite bank of the river, creating multi-colored reflections in the water behind this group of dogwoods.

You can see some more recent images, and read about where you can still photograph dogwoods in Yosemite, in this blog post:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/05/10/spring-continues-in-yosemite/

+10000 PHOTOGRAPHERS curated by +Robert SKREINER 

#landscapephotography  +Landscape Photography  curated by +Margaret Tompkins  +Carra Riley  +Bill Wood +David HeathWillia... more »

2013-04-30 14:14:27 (11 comments, 2 reshares, 88 +1s)

A Beautiful Week in Yosemite

Yosemite Valley has been exceptionally pretty lately. Last Wednesday some dramatic clouds rolled in, and it's been a great year for dogwoods.

The dogwoods in Yosemite are pretty consistent performers. They always bloom, regardless of how wet or dry the previous winter has been. But some years are better than others, and this is one of the better ones I’ve seen recently, as most of the trees have more blossoms than usual. The dogwoods arrived early this year, and all of them are now leafing out, but the flowers were still fresh-looking yesterday. In another week or so they’ll start to look bedraggled in the valley, though they should just be starting to bloom at higher elevations along highways 41 and 120, and in the Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias.

Temperatures are warm for the end of April, and the waterfalls are going strong.The... more »

2013-04-29 00:41:26 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Our friend LothLorien Stewart at +Mostly Sweet Jewelry makes wonderful jewelry, and is new to the G+ community, so I hope you'll check out her work and add her to your circles.

2013-04-22 20:15:13 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 25 +1s)

My Thoughts About the Lightroom 5 Beta

The Lightroom 5 Beta seems like a modest upgrade compared to previous versions. But it's still a big deal because it could radically improve your workflow: http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/04/22/lightroom-5-beta/

2013-04-22 17:57:39 (15 comments, 6 reshares, 71 +1s)

My Thoughts About the Lightroom 5 Beta

The Lightroom 5 Beta seems like a modest upgrade compared to previous versions. But it's still a big deal because it could radically improve your workflow: http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/04/22/lightroom-5-beta/

2013-04-21 17:34:01 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 11 +1s)

Tioga Pass opening May 11th?

2013-04-19 17:48:13 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

I've just launched a new Kickstarter campaign to help fund my new documentary, The Power of Place. Check it out, make a pledge if you can, and share the news! Thanks!

2013-04-19 05:39:10 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 46 +1s)

Congratulations to SmugPro +Ben Canales for having this incredible photo featured as the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130417.html

Check out more of +Ben Canales night photography on his SmugMug site at http://thestartrail.smugmug.com

A great backstory from +Ben Canales about this incredibly rare capture:

"This image is particularly satisfying because it represents more than just this moment and scene- it's got a little bit of back story and history. I first went to this spot a couple months prior at the beginning of winter. I wasn't sure what I'd find up on the ridge, and ended up in a bit of a thrilling winter snow storm. On this first trip, rather than taking pictures, I spent the whole night kicking the tent walls as snow accumulated and began to sag in the roof. When I wasn't kicking at thewalls,... more »

2013-04-18 21:07:42 (10 comments, 2 reshares, 57 +1s)

Dogwoods and Lunar Rainbows

First, before you get too excited, this photograph was made last year, so no, the dogwoods don't look like that yet! The dogwoods are just starting to come out in Yosemite Valley. I was up there Tuesday, and saw that perhaps 30 percent of the dogwoods had new, green blossoms. A couple of trees even had fully white – though small – blossoms. Also, the cottonwoods are leafing out with those beautiful new bright-green leaves.

You want to catch the dogwoods early. The flowers last for several weeks, but they start to look ragged after awhile, and they don’t stand out as much after the trees leaf out. With the weather predicted to warm up this weekend I expect the dogwoods will progress rapidly, and many, perhaps even most, will be in full bloom a week from now. Next week or the following weekend might be the best time this year.
Also... more »

2013-04-16 21:56:20 (18 comments, 19 reshares, 66 +1s)

Proposed Changes to Yosemite’s El Capitan Meadow

I know many of you have a close connection with Yosemite, so I thought you would want to know about some proposed changes to El Capitan Meadow. In most of the proposed alternatives for the park service's Merced River Draft Management plan, fencing and signs would be installed to keep visitors from trampling the meadow.

John Sexton wrote a thoughtful post on Facebook about this issue, which I recommend reading.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200950372552657&set=a.1254754460087.149833.1566335996&type=1

El Capitan Meadow has long been a favorite spot for photographers in Yosemite. Ansel Adams made his Oak Tree, Snowstorm photograph from there. Galen Rowell captured one of his most famous images, Clearing Storm Over El Capitan, from this meadow. John posted one of his wonderfulp... more »

2013-04-15 22:29:02 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 13 +1s)

Lightroom 5 beta is now available for download! http://bit.ly/Lr5beta

Join the conversation with #Lr5beta .
 
New features include:
- Advanced Healing Brush: Enhancements to the Spot Removal tool allow you to heal or clone using brush strokes. A new “Visualize Spots” tool highlights sensor dust spots for easy removal.
- Radial Filter: Apply any of Lightroom’s local adjustment attributes to a circular mask. The area of the mask can be resized, feathered or even inverted to give you maximum control over the focus of your images.
- Upright: Automatically level horizons, straight buildings, and correct other askew lines.   
- Smart Preview: Lightroom allows you to edit offline images by storing a smaller version of the original image, called a smart preview. Edits made to the Smart Preview will automatically apply to the original once reconnected toLightroo... more »

2013-04-15 00:54:57 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Is Photoshop Remixing the World?
Great  episode from the PBS series "Off Book"

2013-04-11 19:16:28 (13 comments, 10 reshares, 92 +1s)

A Harebrained Idea

On Easter Sunday the forecast called for showers and thunderstorms, with a 100% chance of rain. So I decided it would be a great day to hike 6 miles and climb over 2,000 feet up to Old Inspiration Point. You can read about our adventure on my blog:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/04/11/a-harebrained-idea/

2013-04-09 21:15:39 (3 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Some Noteworthy New Books

I just reviewed three interesting new photography books on my blog: +Ian Plant's ambitious and thought-provoking eBook, Visual Flow; +Gary Crabbe's beautiful and comprehensive guide to photographing northern California; and the new, free eBook from Craft & Vision, with articles by +Martin Bailey, +David duChemin, +Nicole S. Young, and others:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/04/09/noteworthy-books/

2013-04-08 19:52:19 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 22 +1s)

I just saw this video juxtaposing the northern lights with Comet PanSTARRS. Very nice -- the aurora is actually much more interesting than the comet!

2013-04-05 20:01:48 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 51 +1s)

Wonderful Photographs by Chris Gibbs

I just saw this beautiful series of photographs by Chris Gibbs called "Dog Musher." The contrast between adorable puppies and grizzled mushers is striking, and I like the effective use of both black and white and color:

http://chrisgibbs.com

Thanks to Mike Johnston at The Online Photographer (http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com) for finding this!

2013-04-04 22:47:09 (16 comments, 3 reshares, 100 +1s)

Merced River Canyon Wildflowers

There are still flowers in the Merced River Canyon west of Yosemite. About half the redbuds are still in good condition, but they’re leafing out rapidly, and won’t last long. As for poppies, the spots where they bloomed earliest, like the beginning of the Hite’s Cove Trail, have faded, but there are still a few good patches around, mainly at the eastern end of the canyon near El Portal. It’s likely that these will also fade within a week or so.

Other flowers will continue to bloom in the canyon for at least another month, but these late-season blossoms usually don’t form dense patches, and are better suited to closeups than to broader landscape images.

I got into closeup mode for awhile yesterday, as you can see from this poppy photograph. It’s not often that I get into this mode, but flowers can offer a lot of creativeopportuniti... more »

2013-03-30 06:15:54 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 37 +1s)

Added photos to SmugMug Cover Photo Submissions For April.

2013-03-28 18:39:52 (17 comments, 4 reshares, 104 +1s)

Redbud Season

The redbud were at about their peak last weekend in the Merced River Canyon west of Yosemite. I set up this composition and waited half an hour for the wind to die down, then gave up and walked upriver for awhile. On my way back it seemed that the wind had calmed a bit, so I set up my tripod again, only to realize that it was almost as windy as before. I waited another half hour, and finally it became perfectly, completely still for about a minute, and I was able to make this photograph.

My blog post has another redbud photo I made Sunday, plus a report on the flower conditions, and thoughts about how soft light can spark your creativity:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/03/28/in-praise-of-soft-light/

2013-03-19 17:34:57 (22 comments, 2 reshares, 97 +1s)

Surprising Wildflowers

Despite our dry winter, +Claudia Welsh and I actually found some wildflowers in the Merced River Canyon Sunday, including these lupines near El Portal. The redbuds are coming out, and there are some decent displays of poppies as well. I wrote a detailed report on my blog:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/03/19/wildflowers-after-a-dry-winter/

2013-03-14 18:28:50 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 73 +1s)

Light and Mood With Intimate Landscapes

Last Friday morning I drove up to Yosemite Valley, hoping to find fresh snow and misty, clearing storm conditions. But there was no snow, and a distinct lack of clouds and mist.

I decided to drive up to Crane Flat, 2,000 feet higher, and found over a foot of new snow, some magical light, and even a little bit of mist.

You can read about how I made this photograph, and how I extricated myself after getting stuck in the snow -- along with some thoughts about capturing a mood and finding unique lighting events with smaller scenes -- on my blog:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/03/14/finding-great-light-for-small-scenes/

2013-03-13 20:39:13 (16 comments, 2 reshares, 93 +1s)

Looking for Comets

Has anyone tried to photograph Comet PANSTARRS? +Claudia Welsh and I took my mom out to dinner last night to celebrate her 86th birthday, then we drove out into the foothills near Raymond to look for the comet.

We knew the comet was supposed to be near the crescent moon last night. We saw the moon, but no comet at first, so I made some photographs of the moon with silhouetted oaks. A bit later, using binoculars, I did find the comet directly to the left of the moon, but it was small and very faint -- way too faint to show up in a photograph. The viewing didn't last long, as both moon and comet soon sank into clouds near the horizon.

The comet should be visible for several more days in the west after sunset. There's a small window when it's dark enough for the comet to show up but before it sinks below the horizon. You have to have anun... more »

2013-03-07 22:07:17 (7 comments, 5 reshares, 34 +1s)

Yosemite Meditations for Women is Now Available!

It’s finally here! My wife +Claudia Welsh did a wonderful job of editing Yosemite Meditations for Women, finding inspiring quotes from writers like Lorraine Anderson, Susan Zwinger, J.K. Rowling, Diane Ackerman, Pam Houston and many others, and pairing the quotes with my photographs. You can see sample pages and order signed copies here:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/03/07/yosemite-meditations-for-women-is-now-available/

Claudia and I hope you like the book, and really appreciate your support!

2013-03-05 19:32:30 (23 comments, 11 reshares, 162 +1s)

A Rare Storm Approaching Yosemite

After the driest January and February on record for the northern Sierra Nevada, it looks like we're finally going to get some weather – and with it, a chance to photograph a clearing storm:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/03/05/a-rare-storm-approaching-yosemite/

2013-03-04 22:08:50 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

LAST DAY TO APPLY FOR A FREE WORKSHOP!!!
One-on-One Workshop Giveaway

Among the things I most admired about Ansel Adams were his spirit of generosity and his accessibility. He kept himself listed in the phone book even after he became famous and welcomed into his home any number of aspiring photographers who had worked up the courage to call him and request a portfolio review.

For a second year, I would like to honor that spirit by gifting one dedicated photographer a 3-day, one-on-one workshop (a $1,650 value) at my Santa Fe studio.

The session will be tailored to your needs and aspirations, and we'll use the visually stimulating Santa Fe environs to help you explore your passion and express your vision.

To be considered, just send me an email no later than March 4th and tell me in 200 words or so why you want to study with me and what you'd like to... more »

2013-02-26 02:36:34 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

The awards results for the 28th annual Yosemite Renaissance art competition and exhibition are in!

Our thanks to all of the contributing artists for making Yosemite Renaissance XXVIII one of the best exhibits ever!
Our judges, artist Richard Savini and photographer +Keith Walklet, found the quality the work to be so high that they had great difficulty choosing the award winners.

The opening reception on Friday was well attended by approximately 160
lovers of art.

Please find below the list of this year's award winners.

Planning a visit to Yosemite National Park this spring? We invite you to stop by the museum gallery in Yosemite Village next to the Visitor Center, and see all the wonderful works of art on display through May 5th, 2013. 

Thank you for your support of Yosemite Renaissance,
Bob Woolard, Director
Yosemite... more »

2013-02-26 00:40:15 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

+Claudia Welsh and I had a great time at the +Yosemite Renaissance reception Friday night. It was nice to meet +Michael Bonocore, and to see +Joe Azure, +Jeff Sullivan, +Lori Hibbett, +Franka M. Gabler, +David Hoffman, +Charlotte Hoffman, +Mark Heliger, +G Dan Mitchell, +Patty Mitchell, +Vidya Narasimhan, +Steven Bumgardner, and +Keith Walklet again. (Hope I didn't forget anyone!)

Congratulations to the award winners, and to all the exhibiting artists!

2013-02-21 21:34:33 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 40 +1s)

Opening Reception Tomorrow Night!

Yosemite Renaissance 28: A Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art of Yosemite and the Sierra.

Exhibition Opens Saturday, February 23 to Sunday, May 5, 2013
Yosemite Museum Gallery, Yosemite National Park.

The public is invited to the Awards Reception, this Friday, February 22nd, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

This is a fun, social event - please join us if you are in the area!

Yosemite Renaissance is a non-profit organization for the arts of Yosemite, supported, in part, by funds and services from the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors, Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, and the National Park.

2013-02-16 17:36:37 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 84 +1s)

I thought that the warming weather over the last few days would melt some snow and increase the water flow in Horsetail Fall. But the flow is still disappointingly meager.

I had a chance to photograph Horsetail last night, and I would say the water level is about the same as last year. The accompanying photograph was made from the Southside Drive area at about 5:30 p.m. yesterday. What water there is gets nicely highlighted when the light is just right, especially near the bottom of the fall, but… I wish the flow was better.

You can read the rest of my report on Horsetail Fall and the snowstorm that's approaching Yosemite on my blog:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/02/16/a-quick-horsetail-fall-update/

2013-02-16 17:04:02 (19 comments, 1 reshares, 84 +1s)

Latest Horsetail Fall Conditions in Yosemite

I'm happy to be up and running after dealing with some computer issues, and can give you a quick report on Horsetail Fall. During a private workshop on Monday I had a chance to check out the water flow. I’d say it’s a little below average for mid-February, but definitely better than last year. Despite six weeks of mostly dry weather there’s still some snow on top of El Capitan to feed the waterfall, and temperatures are supposed to rise a bit this week, which should help melt that snow and increase the water volume.

The window of best light for Horsetail Fall starts this weekend and lasts about a week to ten days. If our dry spell continues we should see some clear skies at sunset during that time — an essential requirement for the Horsetail light show. But the long-range forecast calls for precipitation next Tuesday andWednesd... more »

2013-02-08 23:14:20 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Is it possible to create every possible photograph with a computer algorithm? Yes -- if you limit the photograph to 10 x 15 pixels in grayscale. Oh, and it will only take 46,138,562,195,008,110,600,774,753,760,087,749,172,181,189,607,929,628,058,548,517,099,604,563,033,706,075 years!

2013-01-31 21:53:25 (7 comments, 4 reshares, 78 +1s)

Horsetail Fall Questions

It's almost February, so naturally I've been getting a lot of questions about Horsetail Fall. My thoughts about the best time to photograph Horsetail haven't changed since I wrote a post last year revising my estimates: basically it's February 16th to 23rd, or maybe a little beyond that.

Click through to my latest blog post to see all the details and read my forecast for the water flow in Horsetail this year:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/01/31/horsetail-fall-questions/ 

2013-01-24 17:37:01 (18 comments, 5 reshares, 101 +1s)

New Blog Article - Creating Depth: Beyond the Wide-Angle Formula

Depth can be a powerful tool in photography. But landscape photographers have come to rely on one method for creating a sense of depth — the popular near-far, wide-angle perspective. We've limited our options, and we owe it to ourselves to and our viewers to explore other paths, and create images with depth and meaning that go beyond this one formula.

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/01/23/creating-depth-without-the-wide-angle-formula/

2013-01-14 22:06:58 (7 comments, 8 reshares, 87 +1s)

A Few Spots Left in the Eastern Sierra Fall Color Workshop

If you’re not subscribed to my email list you missed the announcement of my Eastern Sierra Fall Color: Composition and Creativity Among the Aspens workshop next fall. We had such a great response to this offering that it sold out the first day! But the good news is that we decided to run a second edition of this course from October 20-23, 2013, and there are still a few spots available.

I made the accompanying photograph during the first edition of this workshop last October. We photographed this aspen grove late in the afternoon as the lowering sun backlit the yellow leaves. This was my favorite image from that spot, but I saw many interesting, unusual compositions by everyone else that afternoon, both on the back of people's cameras and later during image reviews. You can see some of the participant'sp... more »

2013-01-14 00:00:20 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

+Claudia Welsh and I just got an advance copy of our new book, Yosemite Meditations for Women, published by the Yosemite Conservancy. Claudia did a wonderful job of editing this -- finding quotes, pairing them with photographs, and getting permissions from the authors. I'll let you know when it's available -- it should be sometime next month!

2013-01-10 22:03:48 (8 comments, 9 reshares, 32 +1s)

Check out this beautiful video, with photographs by master landscape photographer Charles Cramer, and music by Brent Heisinger, played by Gwendolyn Mok:

2013-01-09 20:21:21 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 31 +1s)

Looking for photo inspiration? Here are 300 photographers who submitted to the Best Photos of 2012 Blog Project at JMG-Galleries
Thanks to all the G+ Photographers who took part!

Best Photos of 2012 by JMG-Galleries Blog Readers
http://www.jmg-galleries.com/blog/2013/01/09/photos-2012-jmggalleries-blog-readers/

#bestof2012   #bestof   #photographydiscussion   #photographers  

2013-01-08 21:06:28 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 16 +1s)

Here are my 10 Favorite Photographs from 2012!

*the photograph in the thumbnail below was one of my first photographs that I made with the excellent Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L II tilt-shift lens, that I purchased back in February. It is a stitch of 3 exposures (one while shifting down, one without shift and one while shifting up) all while the camera body (Canon 5D Mark II) was secured in one (horisontal) position. This technique produced a high resolution photograph that also might be my nr. 1 choice of all the ten.

Click on the link to my blog post to see the rest of the photographs ↓

2013-01-08 01:26:55 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 19 +1s)

Great selection of images from the National Geographic photo contest:

2013-01-07 01:46:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

ANNOUNCING PLUS ONE COLLECTION 2012 + Image Submission + Fundraising Campaign

Alright, let's do this thing! The publication of Plus One Collection 2012 is officially under way. Read on for details, watch the video, re-share it, and get on the train before it's too late. 

Who can contribute a photograph for the book? 

Anyone. Send us your best image you took in 2012 and it'll get published in one or in all forms - in print, in ebook, and in our online gallery. 

What's the theme?

Same as last year - your best photograph you made in the year just ended, 2012. 

How else can I help?

Re-share this post with your circles. Invite friends and family to participate. This is a photography community publication, and we want as many submissions as we can get. Everyone should hear about this.Rem... more »

2013-01-05 23:34:37 (17 comments, 11 reshares, 129 +1s)

2012: My Top Ten Images

The polls are closed, the votes are in, and readers have chosen my top ten photographs of 2012! This image of Three Brothers by moonlight was the most popular, but you can see the rest of the top ten here:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/01/05/top-ten-images-of-2012/

Thanks to all my G+ friends who participated!

2013-01-01 19:46:19 (10 comments, 4 reshares, 120 +1s)

2012: Picking My Best Images

Happy New Year everyone! Want to help me pick my top ten photographs from 2012? I've chosen 50 finalists; you can see them all and vote for your favorites on my blog:

http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2013/01/01/2012-picking-my-best-images/

2012-12-31 22:42:03 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Problem with WP 3.5 and the Additional Images Sizes Plugin?

I'm using the Additional Image Sizes plugin recommended by +Peter Adams in his wonderful ebook. It worked fine -- until I upgraded to WP 3.5 recently. Now when I try to add an image to a post from the Media Library I don't see the option of using those additional sizes. Only the standard Thumbnail, Medium, and Full Size images are available in a pull-down menu. Anyone else run into this problem?

2012-12-31 21:22:30 (24 comments, 4 reshares, 139 +1s)

A Memorable New Year’s Eve

It was 1985 — I think. My fiancé Claudia and I had started working at The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley in September. On New Year’s Eve it snowed, but after dark the storm broke, and a full moon appeared through rifts in the clouds.

Someone suggested going cross-country skiing in the moonlight. With a few co-workers from the gallery and other valley friends we gathered our ski equipment and headed out to the Ahwahnee Meadow. There were nine of us altogether (I only know that because a snapshot of the group has survived). Most of the group weren’t experienced skiers, and I remember a lot of flailing and falling while we were trying to cross a ditch in the meadow.

Then someone had the brilliant idea of skiing to Mirror Lake, about two miles away. In our youthful exuberance and folly we all thought this sounded great. We skiedout past... more »

2012-12-26 21:18:07 (10 comments, 7 reshares, 28 +1s)

A Tour de Force of Online Journalism

This story in the New York Times is the first piece I've seen that takes full advantage of the web's ability to tell a story through many different mediums. It includes animated chapter headers, video clips, audio clips, and animations, all woven around a beautifully written story about a tragic event in the Washington Cascades. Don't miss it!

2012-12-24 19:46:33 (17 comments, 1 reshares, 122 +1s)

Merry Christmas!

Claudia and I are visiting family in southern California. It's raining outside while we play Scrabble and Taboo and watch movies. I hope all of you are warm and safe, enjoying the beauty of the season and the company of family and friends. To all who celebrate it, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

2012-12-20 23:32:22 (16 comments, 4 reshares, 6 +1s)

Hantavirus Article in Outside Magazine

This article in Outside Magazine is the most comprehensive piece I've seen about last summer's hantavirus outbreak in Yosemite. It gives a clear account of what happened and when, and speculates about why people get panicked about something like this when the risk from other things is much higher.

But I was a little disappointed that the author didn't ask some of the most interesting questions about this subject, such as: Is the disease actually more common than thought, but under diagnosed? Why have no Yosemite employees or park residents contracted the disease? Is it possible that many Yosemite residents have had hantavirus, but weren't diagnosed, and developed immunity?