Mono Lake, Wildfire Smoke. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Mono Lake and tufa towers with drifting wildfire smoke in morning light.
My foremost impressions of Mono Lake are usually formed around its vast expanse — the place is absolutely huge, and the low mountains to its east accentuate this effect. The great open space above its water usually presents an equally expansive view of sky, whether it is pure blue or broken by various clouds. (My other strong impression of the place is an audio impression — a combination of early morning silence and the sounds of thousands of birds.)
I made this photograph during very unusual conditions. On this late-summer morning a very large wildfire was erupting south of here, and its smoke was drifting northward in the early morning. The morning light was increasingly blocked by the smoke and eventually (after I made this photograph) the smoke became oppressively thick and I had to leave. When I made the photograph the smoke was drifting softly in front of those distant mountains and glowing faintly in the early morning backlight.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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