Landscapes

Something to remember next time

Sunrise at Salton Sea Another focus stacked image here. This time I stacked 5 images, which is understandable since it is in portrait mode. Unfortunately though, I don’t remember changing the aperture from F/8 to F/5.6, but apparently I did. I shortened the exposure length from 13 seconds to 8 seconds for some reason which is unknown to me, and since it got darker, I must’ve opened the shutter as a habit without thinking about the shallower depth of field. As of a result, the two stepping stones in the foreground aren’t tack sharp. Something to remember next time.

Bombay Bunny Club

Sunrise at Salton Sea It was rather chilly when I woke up. What do you expect in the middle of California desert in late November, right? I bundled myself up, grabbed my gear and headed for the lake. One good thing about the cold weather even at this popular spot is that it is not too common to see many photographers out here that early, let alone visitors. In other words, I didn’t have to compete for the spot where I wanted to set up my cameras against another human being. I got the colors on the stepping stones, but unfortunately there was not a single cloud lingering in the sky. And that is the reality of landscape photography. We are always in the mercy of great weather - mostly clouds - for better photos. I focus stacked 4 images from the foreground to the back. In order to keep the depth of field relatively deep but I didn’t want to raise it to F/11, so I kept the aperture any F/8. And it is tack sharp from the foreground tot he back. You can see all the rough textures on the stones as well as you can read the texts Bombay Bunny Club written on the swing. Quite satisfied.

Send me a postcard, will you?

Sunset at Salton Sea Bombay Beach was quite interesting in that there were a lot of ruins and artifacts that had become part of what made this beach unique. One of them was the iconic swing in the lake, which many visitors photographed and some of which actually stepped into the salt lake and reached the swing. Another object that would have raised one’s eyebrows was a mailbox in the lake. Maybe the lake was smaller and the swing wasn’t submerged in the water like right now. But the mailbox? I didn’t see it while taking this shot but apparently the tripod sank in the sand a little, leaving a trace of ghost silhouette around the subjects. Usually I wouldn't bother to take a second look and process the photos with the subjects that aren’t sharp, but I couldn’t help myself on this one. The colors were simply mesmerizing. If you go here, send me a postcard, will you?

It feels underappreciated

The morning at Salton Sea was quite chilly. It was still dark when I stepped out. I trudged across the field of salt deposits toward Three Sisters with both cameras on the tripods in my hands. The sound of the salt crust crunching under my feet was a delight. I quickly set up my cameras. Shortly after, Earth’s Shadow slowly faded in. I always loved this particular moment of the day. It feels underappreciated than it should be. But then maybe that is a good thing. Not a whole lot of people get up early to crowd the scenes at this hour, so to speak. Only downside of it is that it doesn’t last long. The sunrise glow slowly made its way across the barren field while my warm lungs were still getting filled with the chilly air.

What a thrilling ride

Mono Lake on Christmas Day And just like that, the show was over. As all the gorgeous light diminished, there was nothing much to work with, and it was time to pack up and go. What a thrilling ride that I was able to catch though! I don’t know when I would be back again, but hopefully I can go back very soon. I was super glad that I was able to catch clouds hovering over the snow-covered mountains while having some fantastic reflections of them. Okay… Now, I need another adventure...

Time to move onto the next spot

Mono Lake on Christmas Day I kept moving. As soon as I was done with one composition, I moved onto the next. The clouds lingered and created beautiful stripes of shadows onto the mountains. The water was still calm enough letting me have relatively clear reflections. And it was time to move onto the next spot.

Simply tickled me to pieces

Mono Lake on Christmas Day I didn’t have to do a whole lot for the shot that you’re looking at. Light did all the work for me. All I had to do was simply replant my tripod, aim my camera at and compose a shot of the beautifully snow-covered Mono Dome and Lee Vining Peak with those little Tufa rocks floating in the water in the foreground. I have to admit though that it is not always this easy and that there were times when it was extremely tricky to compose a shot when using a prime 24mm lens. For instance, there were times when not enough room gave me a hard time planting the tripod with a few elements in the foreground in mind. In such cases, I simply didn’t have the luxury of changing focal length when using a 16-35mm lens. Sometimes such a make or break situation challenges me and sometimes it takes time to compose a single shot. And yet, it is the sharpness (as I demonstrated a few posts ago) and the almost nonexistent distortion across the entire frame that please my eye. I also appreciate its light weight of under 1 lb (15.7 oz) tremendously. Yes, there are lightweight 16-35mm lenses, but none of them has the aperture of F/1.4. Meanwhile, the tranquil view that you’re now looking at simply tickled me to pieces.

I had to act fast

Mono Lake on Christmas Day The sun was peeking through the clouds and started shedding light on the snow covered Mono Dome and Lee Vining Peak. The lake was calming just in time, as if it was a cue. And of course, as it got brighter, I had to run longer and longer in spite of having the 10-stop ND filter. I was just simply happy that the reflections the mountains and the clouds were getting clear. The sunlight was slowly waking up Mt. Warren in the far distance (the snow-covered tallest peak in the top right corner of the frame). Then, this gorgeous light would soon disappear. I had to act fast to take full advantage of this opportunity.

Acting as a giant lightbox

Mono Lake on Christmas Day As the sky got lighter, I turned around facing northeast again and composed a shot with one of the nearest Tufa towers in the water. Like in the sheltered recess, the water was calm near me albeit the rest was of the lake was not, thus, I was able to capture rather clear reflections of these towers in spite of the short duration. I loved the light at this particular moment… the moment when the sun was about to rise above the horizon, starting to illuminate the world with the pending exposure of sunlight. And the overcast sky was acting as a giant lightbox.

Could change any minute

Mono Lake on Christmas Day I spotted this small, sheltered space with a view of the snow-covered mountains. Unlike the open part of the lake, the water was rather calm, so I was quite excited about the reflections. The reflections of the mountains were definitely not in store. While the bands of thick clouds hovered over the mountains like Mono Dome and Lee Vining Peak, but, quite surprisingly, even Mt. Warren was clearly seen. The mood that I found myself in was not necessarily something that I was looking forward to. And yet, it could change any minute. And I was hoping for it. I saw a bit of muted pink seeping through the sky. Definitely part of Earth’s Shadow, but I wasn’t sure if it would come through or turn into something that made my attempt worthwhile. So much for chasing light, I thought. But then again, it could change any minute, I told myself.

Early morning of solitude

Mono Lake on Christmas Day Christmas Day arrived. It would have been quite a bit of an understatement if I said it was cold… No, seriously. It was pitch black dark when I woke up, and at 21°F (-6°C) I was getting ready for the morning photo shoot. You gotta do what you gotta do, like they say, right? I grabbed my gear and headed for the lake. It was quite overcast, so I knew that the sky would not light up. Well, not only did it turn out to be the case but also it wasn’t getting any warmer for a while. I was busy keeping my hands warm between the shots. Oh well, what can you do? That’s how Mother Nature wanted it that morning. It was not too windy, but it did not mean that the water calm. So, I ended up shooting quite a few per composition till I saw the decent reflections of the Tufa towers. But then again, I was also enjoying the early morning of solitude (yes, not a single soul was at the lake that early) quite a bit. It was one of the reasons why I drove all the way out there.

Fading into a distant memory

Mono Lake on Christmas Eve The remaining light in the sky was fading fast. Even after I switched the 10-stop ND filter to 3-stop, it took 45 seconds to take the shot that I liked in terms of exposure. Once the subtle pink of the Earth’s Shadow was completely gone, the world turned blue. And I thought that the saturation would fade soon, and it would leave the world with nothing but grey and black. I don’t know why but the blue reminded me of 37° 2 le main (37.2°C in the morning), aka Betty Blue. Quite melancholic about the past. The evening of solitude allowed me to look back at another year fading into a distant memory.

Gotta love those details

Mono Lake on Christmas Eve So, this was the first long exposure shot of the evening. I liked the composition a lot, so I kept everything as the test shot was taken. I started off from the beach closest to the boardwalk and slowly walked my way around the shore. By the time when I shot this, the daylight was already faded immensely, so I knew I didn’t have much time left. Well, that is often the case in winter anyway. Oh, did I tell you that the temperature was dropping fast? I wanted to show you how crisp these shots were, so I included the 1:1 ratio images of the rocks. It’s impossible to see the small details when you look at images on Instagram. Please pinch to zoom them. You will see all the delicate textures of the rocks floating in the foreground or the Tufa towers in the lake (aka warship). Look at the fine blood-vessels looking little branches of the shrub next to the floating rocks. Gotta love those details. Happy new year, everyone!

You can’t plan those

Mono Lake on Christmas Eve The rain this winter brought plenty of snow in the mountains of California, and I wanted to see them in the Eastern Sierra. Besides, what else would I do on Christmas Eve and Christmas? So, I headed out to Mono Lake, which has always been one of my favorite spots to see them. The cold temperature (32F) certainly kept visitors at bay. No one was around at South Tufa, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day of solitude. I took this as a test shot, but I like it a lot, so I decided to share it. Before completely disappearing, the soft giant softbox, aka clouds diffused light, cast a beautiful light on the Tufa towers. And look at the reflection of the puffy clouds in the center of the frame! You can’t plan those.

Such a sucker for beautiful light

Columbia Park in the morning This was taken almost 2 months ago. A lot of things happened since then, like a trip to Patagonia, so I haven’t gotten around to edit this. Till now. This morning’s sunrise was pretty, of which I didn’t actually take any photos, not even using my drone, and I thought maybe it was time to pay a batch of photos that I took then a good visit. I really loved how the light hit the trees and the grass. In particular, the way that it illuminated my favorite tree. I am such a sucker for beautiful light.

Just be observant and respectful

Las Torres at sunrise It was cold. Majority of the slopes was still covered with a lot of snow. And, most of all, there were one too many people to deal with when it came to composing an actual shot. After shooting the almost mirror-like reflection of the Towers in the water, I moved to my right where I still could frame a similar shot of the Towers but still could include more elements in the foreground. Only trouble was that I waited literally over 10 minutes for the group of about 15 hikers taking their time taking photos. But that was also part of the game. So, I patiently waited. Because I was taking a few long exposure shots, some didn’t realize it and almost barged in front of my camera. I stopped them in time not to ruin my shots. Because I had ruined some photographer’s shot once in the past when I started out (quite pissed off, he screamed and yelled at me), so I have learned to pay attention to what is happening around me before I make a move towards a subject that I am interested in. This world offers plenty of opportunities. Just be observant and respectful of what others are doing.

My patience was tested

Las Torres at sunrise Too much of rain forced the rangers to close the pass in the waist deep snow. Everyone turned around and exited the way they went in. Disappointed, but I still wanted to go up to Las Torres, aka the Towers. My plan was to climb up to Chileno to spend a night and then catch the sunrise the following morning. Instead, my Chilean friends convinced me to join them to day hike it. And part of me not wanting to lug my heavy backpack up to Chilemno won. We left Central at 2:30 am. It was dark and chilly. It definitely reminded me of all the Mt. Whitney hikes that I did. The last patch of ice and snow was dangerous, to say the least, but we made it in one piece to the lake. Truly it was one of the coolest rock formations that I’ve seen. Still too early, so it was freezing cold and snow was everywhere. And it was quite crowded. It was quite surprising because we hardly saw hikers going up before or after us. Later I was told that most of them came up from Chileno. It wasn’t easy to compose a shot of the Towers without people in it. It was truly a moment where my patience was tested.

Mostly blotted out

Pebble beach at Dickson [This is a series of photos that I took while backpacking Torres del Paine. I tried to take as many photos as possible, but it rained so much more than I had ever anticipated, so it was not possible. Itt was extremely windy, so a combination of both rain and wind made it difficult to shoot while actually hiking.] This is one of the small amount of photos that I managed to take on this trip. It is unfortunate that it rained so much while I was there. Guess it is one more reason to go back to Patagonia. This was taken at the pebble beach at Dickson where icebergs were afloat. Although I thought I seized the moment when the rain stopped, as soon as I got out there and started taking pictures, the raindrops began falling on me again. Let me remind you that the winds never stopped blowing as well. Eventually the combination of rain and winds forced to withdraw from the beach. The sun shone spottidly in a corner of the pale sky but never persisted, mostly blotted out by the grey blanket of clouds. In the company of rain, the clouds hardly gave way to the blue skies. In spite of long hours of daylight, the rain never permitted me to take shots for the rest of the day.

Lonesome tree

Morning light at Serón [This is a series of photos that I took while backpacking Torres del Paine. I tried to take as many photos as possible, but it rained so much more than I had ever anticipated, so it was not possible. Itt was extremely windy, so a combination of both rain and wind made it difficult to shoot while actually hiking.] I didn’t know if these were any good. I just took as many shots as I could before the light faded. Little did I know that more rain was in store for the next several days, and for the remainder of the trip I managed to take only half of what I took that day. So, I am glad that I took this shot and that I was able to turn this into part of the mini series - Morning light at Serón.

Almost lush

Morning light at Serón [This is a series of photos that I took while backpacking Torres del Paine. I tried to take as many photos as possible, but it rained so much more than I had ever anticipated, so it was not possible. Itt was extremely windy, so a combination of both rain and wind made it difficult to shoot while actually hiking.] Once I took the first shot, I started moving around as quickly as possible before the gorgeous light disappeared. I knew it would not last long. So, I kept searching for spots where I could compose a shot. And I found this old log sitting in the grass. I did not think that it was the best object that I could have in the foreground nor that it was one of the best compositions that I could have, but it had to do it. Thanks to the constant rain, the grass was so green. Almost lush. And I liked the fact that my camera could pick up all the details of each leaf of grass. Yes, you have to look at it in a larger size, but you’ll still get the idea.