During peak snow melt many Sierra Nevada lakes overflow and flood surrounding meadows and forest. Although the water level was lower at the end of June when I made this photograph than it had been three weeks earlier during my first visit of the year, many areas in the margins of the lake were flooded. (This, of course, makes the mosquito population very happy – and human visitors less so!) The early morning sun back-lit these closely spaced trees and the rocks ringing this quiet flooded area along the shoreline.
I have visited this lake for many years. I’ve long been intrigued by this particular spot, where flat granite slabs line the shoreline, allowing the lake to expand and contract across shallows as the season progresses. Later in the season this spot can be dry, but early season in this wetter-than-usual year the water flooded this small pool and what might otherwise be shoreline trees were on a rocky peninsula. Those trees have been a subject for other photographers— being aware of this I wanted to avoid a photograph that imitated their beautiful work. I arrived in the early morning, when the air was still and cool and the water smooth. I walked about a bit and just looked, then came to this spot, where the complex patterns of the trees and their reflections in the water fill the frame, creating for me a sense of stillness and calm and quiet.
This photograph was a prize winner in the Yosemite Renaissance 2013 show in Yosemite Valley. Prints are available. Email me and/or see the Sales link at the top of this page.
This photograph is the subject of one of my “Photograph Exposed” posts, in which I share more of the story behind the image.
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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