“Dawn Sky, Mono Basin” — Tufa towers in Mono Lake waters reflecting the dawn sky.
It is difficult to resist a visit to immense Mono Lake when I visit the Eastern Sierra, even when it isn’t the main goal of my trip. OK, it is actually just about impossible to resist making at least a quick stop there. In early July I spent a few days around the Sierra crest along the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park, and one morning I decided to head down to Mono Lake before dawn and spend a few hours photographing in the early light.
I hade this photograph near dawn, when the pre-sunrise light was deeply coloring the sky, which was reflected in the waters of the lake. I love how the apricot-olored sky near the horizon fades to blue far above. The distant mountains are on the far side of this gigantic lake, many miles away, and this cluster of tufa towers stands a good distance out in the water.
“Tufa Tower, Lake, Blue Mountains” — Mono Lake, a solitary tufa tower, and distant blue mountains in morning haze.
It is always a pleasure to visit the Mono Basin and its namesake lake, especially in the early morning when it is often still and quiet. I was there last week, dropping down one morning from a camp high up near the Sierra Crest. When I arrived I saw only one other car, and ts occupant was nowhere to be seen — it was as if I had the entire basin to myself!
I arrived well before sunrise and continued photographing right into the blue light of early morning. It was calm and the water reflected the blue of sky and distant mountains. I used a long lens to focus on a small section of those mountains, aligning them with a single tufa tower far out in the water.
“Light and Dark” — A canyon wall lit by reflected sunlight is seen through a dark section of canyon narrows, Death Valley.
Having photographed in the red rock canyons of Utah, I suspect that I have a bias toward that sort of beautiful, warm-toned landscape. In Death Valley I often look for, and enjoy finding, canyons with similar smooth surfaces… though that Utah red rock isn’t something you’ll see very much here. The narrow canyon in this photograph is perhaps more typical of the Death Valley landscape, with much rougher and more angular rocks.
I have written frequently about how wonderful canyon light is and how much it contrasts with the harsh and brilliant light of the desert landscape outside the canyons. In the deepest and narrowest sections the shadowed light becomes quite blue since the blue of the sky that is the main source of illumination. In this photograph we see the contrast between those blue foreground shadows and the warmer colors of the more distant canyon wall that is more open to the light.
“Alone in the Wilderness” — Over a dozen morning photographers crowd one small section of sand dunes, Death Valley.
Yes, the photo title is obviously tongue-in-cheek. This is not really “wilderness,” nor is this a place where one is likely to be “alone.” But there is a lot to think about here. If you look closely — and you may need to click the image to get a larger view — you can count at least a dozen photographers spread out in this desert landscape that comprises a very small section of these dunes… and it is not at all the most crowded area.
You can diminish the number of people out there with you if you go in the off-season, avoid weekends, get up very early, and perhaps go there when the wind is howling. But most often you will not be anything like “alone” in this place. To be honest, one task for photographers here is figuring out to work around the crowds, assuming the crowds are not your intended subject.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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