“Tufa at Dawn” — A shoreline tufa in light reflected by sunrise clouds above Mono Lake.
There is a lot to see and photographer during sunrise at Mono Lake. I was there again in late August, driving down from my Sierra campsite well before the first light. The entire process of sunrise offers photographic possibilities, from the first faint eastern light to the eventual direct sunlight on the landscape as early morning colors begin to fade. Over that entire period I worked quickly, moving from subject to subject as the light and conditions changed — focusing on everything from the sky and clouds to the tufa formations, the water, the face of the Sierra Nevada and even some birds.
“One Departs, One Remains” — A juvenile osprey leaves the nest while its sibling remains.
This is a bit of a serendipitous photograph. I had been photographing landscape subjects since before dawn, but the early light had now dissipated. I figured I was done for the morning, so I shouldered my gear and started ambling in a direction that would take me back to my vehicle. Along the way I saw a little side path marked “dead end” that led toward the water, so I thought I’d take a look. A few feet later I was through some brush and on a rocky beach. A woman was there photographing, and she pointed out two juvenile ospreys at a nest atop a rocky formation just offshore.
“Lake, Forest, and Ridges” — Ellery Lake and surrounding peaks, Sierra Nevada.
I previously shared another photograph made from this same vantage point. That photograph is more tightly cropped and does not include sky. By using a somewhat shorter focal length I was able to include a bit more of the forest at lower left and the rising ridge at the right, though these choices required me to include the sky in the frame.
“Tufa, Sky, and Water” — An island of tufa formations under early morning sky, Mono Lake.
I think of this photograph, in part, as a study in tones. I had been photographing a brilliant sunrise in color, but as the first wild sunrise colors diminished I began to think about monochrome. (Of course, my camera being digital, I was capturing color images, though monochrome results were in my mind.) The brightest areas of the clouds were extremely bright, while the facing side of the tufa formations, being backlit, were very close to black. My plan was to control the bright areas in the exposure and then lift the shadows in post, just enough to hint at details on the tufa.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
