The Gift

I met up with Steve Sieren, Mat Malone, and Mike Bohlander, last fall for the California get together. We had shot the north shore of Mono lake the night before in gail force winds, and alkali dust storms. We wanted to shoot this location for sunrise the next morning. So we parked at the trailhead, and awoke to snow on the ground, and still coming down. You couldn't see any mountains at all. So we went for plan B, back to Mono lake's South Tufa. While there, an occasional look back west revealed some potential for a break in the atmosphere. So we went for it. Back to the trailhead to hike in 2 miles while light snow was falling. Upon arriving at the lake's edge, we still could not see any of these peaks/mountains. I don't think we could see the far side of the lake even. But after around half an hour of shooting other stuff, low and behold, it started to get a bit brighter. In a few minutes this scene unfolded before us, and only lasted maybe ten minutes, but I think less. Then it closed back in on us, and began to snow again, and continued to as we hiked back out to the cars. But it goes to show that anything can happen. But if you don't go for it, you'll miss out when it does! So I view this image as a gift. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for any thoughts, or suggestions. A large version is included.

D200,
18-70mm,
Polarizer,
No other filters,
1/8sec, F/13

Thanks,
Chris