Paoha Island, Mono Lake. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
The view across Mono Basin, including Mono Lake and Paoha Island.
The light in this scene appeals to me. Yes, the view itself is impressive, but the warm-colored early-morning light is especially lovely. It is also a bit deceptive. It probably looks like a warm high-desert day, but the truth was quite different. It was an extremely cold autumn morning, and as we drove we encountered temperatures as low as high single-digits at one point. Ah, that’s fall in the Eastern Sierra!
I made the photograph from a high point above the southwest shoreline of Mono Lake, on a hill that was easily accessible. The view follows the slope down toward the very blue surface of this hug lake, then continues across Paoho Island. Although it is blocked by the island, the water continues beyond it to the far shoreline, where gentle slopes that were once submerged when the lake was larger lead to mountains that surround the Mono Basin.
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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