Mono Lake all dressed up in Pink!
Mono Lake is famous for its dramatic sunrises, sunsets and weird tufa formations that rise spookily from the lake bottom. It is an enormous lake, covering more than 43,000 acres, and is highly saline and alkaline since it has no outlet, allowing minerals and salts to accumulate. Resting at the foot of the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in California, the lake presents a myriad of moods depending on the time of day, the season and the weather, making it a favorite spot for landscape photographers and tourists.
Last week when I was visiting the area, a series of thunderstorms had rolled through the Sierra, creating day after day of dramatic skies. On this particular day, the lake presented me with a pink sunset, soft and lovely. I ran into a Japanese couple as I walked back to my truck who expressed dismay and some disappointment in the pink sunset. They had been told it would be red.
6 Comments
Ace Batacan
Nice photo as usual, Charlotte. For framing your shot, do you find that more water on the lower half is more interesting than more sky on the upper half? Just curious about your thought on that. Did you tell the couple they should stay a few more days so they can see another shade of sunset? :}} Good job!
charlottegibb
Hi Ace! To answer your question about framing, it depends on the situation. When I make a composition, I make a decision about what is the most important element in the scene. In this case, I thought the water was more compelling because the space above the clouds contained just more blue sky. Not much interest there. But the little waves lapping against the shore caught my eye. The only time I will consider splitting the fame in half, with the horizon right smack in the middle, is if there is a mirror-like reflection. That works because I’m accentuating the fact that there is a reflection. Does that make sense?
Ace Batacan
Yes, that makes sense. Amateur photographers like myself can sometimes get stuck with centering everything instead of making an adjustment like you mention to make the composition even more interesting by capturing other elements within the shot. Thanks!
Ace Batacan
Nice photo as usual, Charlotte. For framing your shot, do you find that more water on the lower half is more interesting than more sky on the upper half? Just curious about your thought on that. Did you tell the couple they should stay a few more days so they can see another shade of sunset? :}} Good job!
charlottegibb
Hi Ace! To answer your question about framing, it depends on the situation. When I make a composition, I make a decision about what is the most important element in the scene. In this case, I thought the water was more compelling because the space above the clouds contained just more blue sky. Not much interest there. But the little waves lapping against the shore caught my eye. The only time I will consider splitting the fame in half, with the horizon right smack in the middle, is if there is a mirror-like reflection. That works because I’m accentuating the fact that there is a reflection. Does that make sense?
Ace Batacan
Yes, that makes sense. Amateur photographers like myself can sometimes get stuck with centering everything instead of making an adjustment like you mention to make the composition even more interesting by capturing other elements within the shot. Thanks!