Students work from Master photographer Michael Seewald's Yosemite digital photography classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced photographers

Note, Elber brought this in to our frame shop for framing in June of 2010, and the next
customer that came in saw it and asked if she could order one! He sold his first image- YEAH!

Click photo to enlarge.
Copyright Majid Ahmed, class grad of 3.21-22.'09

5. Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Valley

Click photo to enlarge. Copyright Michael Seewald 2009
Half Dome - clearing storm

"Dear Michael, wanting to make sure that I looked at all of the pictures, and gave them more than a cursory look, I downloaded the images to my desktop so I could see them all side by side. However, for some reason, am not sure why.....I inadvertently included one of yours (Note by MS: this photo was on the entrance page to this page, probably how she downloaded it by mistake). Didn't know this until I had already written my critique/review/opinion (below in blue), and went back to the website to find out what the number was. But.....since I spent some time writing it, I'm sending it anyway ... hope you won't be offended - OK... this falls under the category of ... make sure you have all your facts right.

After spending several days looking at all of the photos, and narrowing them down each day, I have finally come up with a number one choice. But before revealing my choice, I must say, it was a much more difficult task than I would have imagined. All the pictures were beautiful and each had merit in its own way, but the one I finally chose was the one I kept being drawn to. At first glance, one can almost sense the changes and movement of the clouds and hear the trickle of water as the ice melts from the trees. Then your eyes are drawn further into the picture on a perceived path between the wide clearing in the trees, on your way toward the Dome.

Halfway there, as your eyes go up along the hard vertical surface of the dome, you realize that it could also serve as a dividing line between two halves.

To the left, Gray clouds and the look of an approaching storm, and on the right, the promise of the suns warmth.

The left conveys the stillness of the place, expressed in the ice-covered arms of the trees, the grandeur and violence of nature in the dark gathering clouds. The stark sharpness of the trees, particularly on the left of the photo, further emphasizes what a hostile environment this can be.

On the right, the suns’ cloud filtered light, casting its shadows and highlights, which serve to enhance the contours of the dome, and reveals the scale of the massif rock against the trees on the ridge to the right. The blue of the sky being the most predominant color seems to act as a catalyst, moving us back toward the warmer, softer side of the scene.

As you draw back out, to view the photo as a whole, it brings up many emotions, the serenity of the place, juxtaposed against the extremes of the elements. The initial almost monochromatic look, has the effect of drawing your eyes around the picture in search of colors. It isn’t until later that you come back and notice the supple pastels in the trees of the foreground, soft against the unyielding hardness of the stone highlighting yet another extreme.

With these many elements, or maybe because of them, the picture as a whole conveys a profound sense of peace, and possibly a reflection of the many encounters of life as we go through its journey.

My second and third picks, were: 15, 3"

Namaste, Hanni Andersen

Wow, thanks Hanni for the in-depth review, even if it was of one of mine by mistake.
MS

Michael upon hearing that the students would have to
judge these images, not he! He, he, he.

Upon heading to the food-court for his nightly critique session
Michael ran into a grizzly bear "And then it stood up to me like this, and then..."