Mono Lake is one strange, beautiful landscape on our planet. A briney body of water that sits in the desert at the very foot of the Eastern Sierras, where the tufa spires stand, like frozen alien creatures, on the edge of the lake. The tallest spires indicate how deep the lake used to be, before the waters in the tributary streams that fed it were diverted to quench the thirst of Los Angeles.
Even though it was a devastating misuse of the environment that created this landscape, it is nothing short of beautiful and a tad bit magical, but not in a light and airy way. It feels prehistoric, while standing amongst the rock. Ancient. And otherworldly. If you ever wanted to have the feeling of being on another planet, this place might just do that.
As I sat editing these images, they took me back to that place. I could feel the lake, the clear air, the slow warming of the sunrise and the brisk chill at sunset. I would go out to beach at the South Tufa and wait for the sun to rise in the morning, bundled up in freezing temperatures – tipping below 32-degrees right before sunrise. During the week that I was there, I had these sunrises to myself, but when Friday came, it became quite full of other travelers, tourists, and lookey-lous. I was amazed at the number of people that showed up with their cameras.
These images were taken in October 2016 with my old 30D. I’m looking forward to going back again once I replace my photography and camping gear. These images are perfect for web content or personal use. Because of the time of day, and the fact that I wasn’t using a tripod, some of the images are a bit soft, others a bit grainy. Personally, I like those qualities in images like these, for landscapes like this. It makes them kind of dreamy. The full size image is 10 x 15 inches / 3000 x 4500 pixels, if you’d like to see if something could be edited to a larger size (same price), just ask.
