Mono Lake, Paoha Island, Hills. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Arid hills above Mono Lake and Paoha Island.
To look at this photograph you would never guess that it was a very cold autumn morning that felt much more like winter than fall. We were camped in an eastern Sierra canyon, had gotten up very early to head out across the Mono Basin, as not far from this spot we encountered temperatures below 10 degrees at one point! Such is autumn in and around the Sierra — summer one moment and distinctly winter-like the next.
This view, photographed in early morning light, looks across the rounded, volcanic hills between the lake and Mono Craters toward the lake and Paoha Island, one of the two volcanic islands here. The distances encompassed by the photograph are quite huge, extending beyond the far shore of Mono Lake to the slopes to the north. That immensity is one of the main features that quantify the experience for me: immense space, deep quiet, and the huge sky.
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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email
Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.