Mono Lake and the Milky Way!

So.  I'm exhausted.  

Back to work and (mostly) happy about it, but it's emotionally exhausting dealing with Ms. Terminator (tm: Jackie).  But I signed up to go to Mono Lake with one of my Meet-up groups to shoot the Milky Way and I didn't allow myself to talk myself out of it!  

So, without further ado, here are my offerings.  

Oh, but first.  There are these amazing looking abandoned cabins off of 395 that I always want to stop at but never have.  And OH!  

Did I mention that we had our first snowfall already??  In mid-September?  And there was quite a bit still on the ground and in the trees as I went over Monitor Pass!  So exciting!  So then I HAD to stop at the cabins because the mountains in the background were covered with snow and it looked amazing!

I really hope this means we're going to have another wet winter!

So then I got to the parking lot at the South Tufa area of Mono Lake and met up with a new friend.  We were both late and so it was totally meant to be!  We ended up shooting together most of the night and having a blast. 

It was about 6:30 when we arrived and 7:00ish by the time we got to the beach and set up.  We met up with our group leader who gave us some basic info on what shutter/ISO/Aperture we needed and he helped me get my tripod into portrait mode, which I didn't even know it could do!  Yay!

Then we tried to capture some of the tufa with the golden glow from the sunset on them.  Mine were mostly blurry (damn my old, bad eyes!) but I still like this photo.  Just don't look at it too close. 

It's called the Shipwreck (or so I was told) and it was really windy (and freezing), so I like the motion on the water. 

And then, as the sky darkened into a deep purple and the new moon came out, I tried to capture those.

Just in case ya didn't know, these pillars are called Tufa and they were formed many, many moons ago when all of this was under water.  Mono Lake used to be a huge inland sea.  And beneath the lake, underground springs would push calcium-laden water through the lake bed.  When that water met the salty water of the lake, the calcium and carbonate salts formed the limestone towers.

The lake has been drained by drought and by man (mostly Southern California men I think) and now the Tufa Towers are visible around the lake.  If you watch closely at the waters edge, you can see bubbles where new tufa are being formed even now.  Baby tufa!

Anyway, another celestial sight to behold was the Big Dipper sprawled over the North Western horizon.

And then it was time to try to get the Milky Way.  There were clouds out just above the mountains and blocking parts of the galaxy center (or so I was told) but there were so many stars it was simply amazing!

Oh, I should probably say that I have NO idea how to edit the Milky Way to get the fabulous colors and lights that most other photographers do.  I know that most use Lightroom, which I don't have.  I don't even have "real" Photoshop!  So these efforts in my ancient Photoshop Elements 11 is the best I can do.  :-)

This first one was actually a happy accident when Candice turned on her flashlight just as I opened my shutter (I got yelled at for this same thing later.  Some people are very rude.)  It illuminated the tufa naturally and, I think, looks pretty cool!

I had brought some "props", most of which I ended up not using because there were too many people around and I was afraid of getting yelled at.  Maybe next summer I can do some more of my whimsical ideas.  

But I did break out a few glowsticks and place them on the back side of the tufa.  Cool Cool Cool!

These first photos I edited pretty dark and I think I actually took out some of the Milky Way because it was more visible to the naked eye.  But I hate my photos to look grainy!  

This one I adjusted the midtones lighter and you can definitely see more of the Milky Way.  And a plane! Or shooting star!  I don't know which and don't really care because it looks cool.  lol

And another one!  On this one the top and a little of the bottom of the tufa are red and that's not from a glowstick.  I think someone turned on a red flashlight.  You're supposed to use a red flashlight so it doesn't show up in people's photos (or so I was told) but obviously it does.  But again, cool!  It looked like a Superman tufa.

This is the same photo but with my original, darker edit.  There were pink and blue glowsticks (and the red flashlight). 

Now with this next one I went balls to the walls and lightened the hell out of the midtones! You can see all the freaking stars in the damn universe!  Sorry.  I'm really, really tired.

This is the opposite end of the galaxy with a silhouette of the Shipwreck.  So many stars!

And for my last photo of the night (pun intended! Ha!), we have a black and white (mostly) of the Northern shore of Mono with tufa in silhouette.  The streaks of light on the left are cars driving down 395 where it's just above the shore).  And two planes.  Because it can't be said enough...Cool!

I heard the trailing garments of the Night

sweep through her marble halls!

I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light

from the celestial walls!

I felt her presence by its spell of might

stoop o'er me from above;

the calm, majestic presence of the Night,

as of the one I love. 

Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer!

Descend with broad-winged flight,

the welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair,

the best beloved Night!

~~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Hot Springs and Supermoons! - 11/13/16

I have been looking forward to the November 2016 Supermoon for months!  Seriously, months! 

In case you're not a geek like me, November's full moon was a "Supermoon" which is when a full moon occurs when the elliptical orbit of the moon brings it closest to earth. Not only was this a Supermoon, but it was the closest the moon has come to Earth since 1948!  AND it's the closest it will be until 2034!  

So I really wanted to try to get some amazing shots of this special celestial occurrence.  I had some pretty good success on my last dedicated Supermoon shoot in 2013.  That was just from my balcony, so this time I wanted to get away from all the light pollution and try for something extra. 

I definitely got extra!!

Perigee (closest point to Earth) was actually set for the early morning hours of Monday, November 14th.  But I had to be at work fairly early, so I decided to try my luck on the evening of the 13th. Since it was a Sunday, it also allowed me to do some other stuff.  That turned out to be getting some work done on my car after running over a big piece of metal that fell off a semi right in front of me the day before.

And then setting off for Mono County, where the moon was due to rise at approximately 4:45, right as the sun was due to be setting over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the West.  Perfect. 

But first, I wanted to scope out Travertine Hot Springs.  I had tried to stop by on my previous trip to Mono Lake and the amazing Bodie Ghost Town.  But I just didn't have time.  This time, I was more determined.

But I did stop to take some photos of the beautiful landscape. 

Science experiment:  Edit from a darker exposure

Science experiment:  Same shot but edit from a lighter exposure

Of course I did not realize that the main tubs would be SOOOOO crowded!  I knew these springs are popular, but there were quite a few folks when I got there about 3:30 p.m.

So I opted to hike around and take some photos.  I didn't even go up to the main four tubs.  Which are located in these cliffs...

These main tubs are located at the top of a hill.  And the small valley below is quite spectacular.  I'm soooo, so lucky to have been there when the sun was just about to set.  It made for AMAZING pictures!  I did not Photoshop any lens flare or sun rays into any of these photos.  Nature did it for me because I am just not that good in Photoshop. 

You can see water which is a sort of marsh created by the runoff from the springs.  There is also white ground that looks like the Bonneville Salt Flats, which is because it is salt.  And minerals, of course.

There was a beautiful pool at the base of the cliff...

...which was FREEZING cold when I dipped my toe in!

I continued meandering around until I heard a soft cough and was startled to find that I wasn't as alone as I thought I was.  A very nice gentleman was sitting in an almost hidden spring below me.  Or rather, he was sitting up on a rock above the hidden spring.  It was actually a very cool, picturesque scene.  After talking with him for a little while (which was a little awkward for me as he seemed to be naked - I guess this might be a good time to mention that Travertine is a clothing optional hot springs), I surprised myself by feeling comfortable enough to ask him if I could take his picture.  I promised that it would be tasteful and discrete and I did not lie. 

Science experiment:  Edit with higher contrast.

Science experiment: Original.

I also spent a bit of time talking to another gentleman I ran into.  He was a Native American local and he told me about when the local tribes considered the area sacred ground. It's sad that it's now a place where the local kids party until sunup frequently.

This gentleman pointed out another spring down below.  It's amazing how camouflaged these things are!  He said that it was his favorite, but unless you get there early in the morning, it's usually taken.  

There was a couple in it as we were speaking, so we both thought it unlikely that it would become vacant.  But to our surprise, the couple got out after about 20 minutes.  I started to leave, but the local gentleman wouldn't hear of it and said he insisted I stay.  So I did.  

This is the "hot tub" from below.  You can barely see it!  Hint:  It's to the right of the photo behind the log. 

Surprise!  You can see the spring running through the green crevice and gently falling into the natural pool below. 

I'm assuming that these logs were put there by some enterprising person to make seats and maintain the natural look.

It was so amazing.  The water was hot like a bathtub and it was just so cool to be out in nature like this.  I didn't go clothing optional, but I did go topless and it was heaven.  

But it was getting close to sun set time and I didn't want to miss the moon, which was my main reason for being there!  So after soaking for about 20 minutes, I hiked back.

Eeek!  The sun was actually setting and I wasn't even back to my car yet!

I raced back to the highway and headed towards the lake as fast as possible.  I just made it!!

I stopped at the vista point overlooking Mono Lake and grabbed some shots of the Moonrise at Sunset.  None of these photos are composite or retouched except for exposure/contrast.  

Mono Lake was bathed in the shimmery colors of sunset too. 

  

This orange cast on the moon was from the sunset.  There is very little pollution up in the high desert and I was sooo fortunate to catch the moon during the sunset!

I converted this photo into black and white.  Because it's cool.  :-} 

Soon the sun was down and the moon was a brightly-shining white globe in the indigo sky.  After one last photo... 

...I jumped back in my car and sped down 395 to try to get some shots over the water.

I was tempted (for a minute) to do a composite photo so I would have a photo over the water with detail in the moon, but I decided not to. 

For now.  ;-p

Thanks Moon.  Thanks Mother Nature. 

Amazing. 

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Mono Lake and the High Desert - October 25, 2015

"Mono Lake lies in a lifeless, treeless, hideous desert, eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is guarded by mountains two thousand feet higher, whose summits are always clothed in clouds."

"This solemn, silent, sail-less sea --this lonely tenant of the loneliest spot on earth --is little graced with the picturesque."

"It is an unpretending expanse of grayish water, about a hundred miles in circumference, with two islands in its centre, mere upheavals of rent and scorched and blistered lava, snowed over with gray banks and drifts of pumice-stone and ashes, the winding sheet of the dead volcano, whose vast crater the lake has seized upon and occupied."

The above quotes are from Mark Twain's "Roughing It".  He doesn't seem too enchanted with the place, but I was.  If you want to read his very entertaining experience at Mono Lake - this page is a good place to do it.

Maybe because he wrote of his experiences approximately 145 years ago and, well, things do change, but I didn't feel the same during my brief visit there in October 2015.  In fact, I'm dying to go again!

I had headed to the high desert for a few reasons...of course having to do with my camera:

• Get some shots of the sunrise (hopefully) over the tufa,
• Photograph some fall foliage, and 
• Visit a ghost town! Namely, Bodie. 

Well, I didn't get the sunrise because the drive was a liiiittttllleee bit longer than I had anticipated so I arrived just after sunrise.  And it was overcast.  

Which sucked.  Mainly because it wasn't overcast everywhere...mainly over the lake.  Of course.  haha

But I did get some awesome tufa shots.

  

The reflections on the highly-alkaline lake were stunning.

I didn't make it to the main tufa area which is located a bit further down the highway at Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve.  I wanted to get to Bodie at an early hour so I contented myself with the tufa at the Mono Lake Park.  It wasn't very hard as they are so varied and interesting no matter where located.

And the park and boardwalk were lovely too. 

Just because it's high desert, doesn't mean it isn't gorgeous.  Frankly, I think Mr. Twain might have had a screw loose.

Tufa are like clouds...you can see all kinds of shapes and things in them.  This one looks like a piggie.

And here we have a mushroom.

And this one...well...this one is either very phallic or looks like a munchkin with a bare butt. 

I think there is something wrong with me.  haha!

The sky was so dramatic at times!  So then I was glad for the clouds.  :-)

I did get a few fall foliage pictures although there was one beautiful spot filled with red and gold leaved trees with snowy mountains in the background that I wanted but didn't feel comfortable getting.  

It was seriously so beautiful that people were pulling over on the highway to snap pics, but I was going the wrong direction and would have had to cross lanes of traffic to get the good angles.  I just didn't feel comfortable.  

So I contented myself with the few I could get.  

This was really cool but doesn't fully translate to the photo.  There was a creek that ran down this mountain.  The creek was lined with birches which, of course, provided a burst of color in a vivid line.

And this is the same creek with it's thirsty birches, but closer to the lake.  I was on a hill overlooking it at this point and it's really bright against the desert tundra.

I'll finish with some more dramatic sky.  My current love is bare trees.  I think they look so amazing.  So I couldn't resist this shot that kind of sums up the high desert for me. 

Mono Lake.  What a treasure.  And to think we almost killed it by diverting water to Los Angeles.  I'm so happy that people realized.  Especially a young man named David Gaines, who pretty much save the lake.  You can read his story here.  What an inspiration he and this beautiful area are. 

I can't wait to go back.  

xoxo