Jake had airport run duty today, picking up Stephie my assistant. I think he wanted to get even by getting me up early to head to Mono Lake. He wanted to see if the wren family were still around. We never saw them but we were more than entertained for a couple of hours with locals like the California Gulls.
The gulls are in full swing Brine Fly munching mode. They’re in the lake stirring up the bottom to grab the larva of the flies and mowing. The wading shot, I worked the reflections of the tufa and the sky in combination with the biology. I also looked for good looking gull which right now is a challenge. They move kinda a slow in the water, totally the opposite of when their are mowing. They are so comical as they run up and down the shoreline, stirring up the flies while trying to catch them by snapping their bills closed. It’s a great activity to photograph in the harder light, need the extra shutter speed to stop the action!
Well, after looking at the water for light, I turned to see some leaves backlit. This is totally not what you normally see me shooting. These particular leaves were oriented vertical so the sun streaming through them was totally the wrong direction (compared to a leaf laying horizontally).
With the hard shadows coming in an odd direction I was instantly drawn to them. They just looked surreal with the different lighting pattern. I shot a whole bunch but only a couple were worth finishing. What you see here is right from the camera. Pretty wild light!
Now here’s a rare photo, in my files that is. This is only the 4th or 5th leaf picture in my career I actually like that I took. No clue if it’s any good, don’t know why I like it and doubt if I could do it again but I’ll keep it. It shows there’s always hope.
Photos captured by D3x, 105VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
It was one of those morning when the light went hard two heartbeats after the sun made its appearance. One of the things I typically do in such situations is run to the shadows. Either use the shadows as design elements or find within shadows other subject lacking that direct hard light.
So we blasted from Mono Lake and went up to Lee Vining Canyon. The first light that caught my attention was that flowin with the water. It was the play of color with the reflections that caught me attention. Not great but got me lookin. Following its course took me to an outflow where the creek dumped into a deep pool. Here I liked what you see above. It took about 30 images, the motordrive blasting away to capture the right combo and pattern of light and dark. Since I’m not that good at this, I’m kinda happy with this image.
Photos captured by D3x, 105VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Yeap, the gulls were laughing at us and they aren’t even Laughing Gulls. This is a California Gull down at Mono Lake and I had to work to get this shot. The gulls are molting with the end of nesting season. There was no finding a good lookin one and there was no getting close to them or other birds. A couple of hours went by and only a couple of clicks were made, it was that slow. But it only takes one to make me happy. When you see the Moose Cam, you’ll see what I’m talking about. mtc
I woke up this morning and just decided we needed to climb to the top of the mountain we live on. So my family appeasing a doddering old fart said sure, after lunch. In my 50yrs here, I’ve never been to the top of Mammoth Mtn, been on top of most the rest, but not the one we live on so off we went.
Not that getting to the “top” is any great deal, you ride the gondola close to the top, it’s just a 1/2 walk to the very top. But the view, well, it’s to die for! It was a great way to spend the afternoon, making circles and taking in a 360 view of where we call home. What you see above is what’s called the Lake Basin with Red Mtn, Duck Pass, Crystal Craig and Mammoth Crest. No great photographic oop, just family and home. Perfect day!
