Mono Stillness

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 27, 2016231 views17 comments

This image is from my trip to the Eastern Sierra last December. I decided to drive up to Mono Lake for sunset as the conditions looked promising for nice lighting. I walked in to the Western shore of the lake to capture this scene. Even more than the pinks/magentas, what was most striking was the intense blue along the horizon. While I have seen the earth shadow effect many times, I've never experienced this sort of lighting previously. Appreciate comments/suggestions.

5DII, 24-105 f/4L @ 58mm
ISO 100, f/11, 1/6 sec.

Comments

17 comments

Comment posted by Pete Bengeyfield on February 27, 2016 at 12:49 PM

Nice arrangements of the elements, and the reflection is spectacular.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 1247 Posts, 3439 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on February 27, 2016 at 2:03 PM

Dave,

Just spectacular! The light is subtle and exquisite and the color is perfect. Been there, seen this light, color and conditions. Captured beautifully!

Gotta ask though, how did you get such detail and sharpness front to way, way back at f/11? I guess with the laws of DOF, the big tufa up front are far enough away that you're getting the full, real DOF, even at f/11. Amazing.

Fabulous job on processing and sharpening for the web too. Congrats! devil

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on February 27, 2016 at 2:47 PM

This is simply excellent! The composition is nicely balanced and the sharpness is spot-on. The color is wonderful and looks perfect. Well done! devil

I've been to Mono Lake many times and have not had very good luck there, except once or twice over many years. You nailed this one!

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on February 27, 2016 at 3:16 PM

I'm not the biggest Mono fan in the world, but this is nice.

I wonder how it would look hinting very slightly toward magenta a bit.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Bushnell on February 27, 2016 at 4:20 PM

Love the colors Dave. They evoke the location well. Have been there a number of times.

Registered on April 3, 2011, 20 Posts, 122 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on February 27, 2016 at 7:01 PM

I'd say you struck gold (reddish gold anyway), Dave. Love the color combo here and having the three nicely isolated tufa stacks plus their near perfect reflections works very well.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on February 27, 2016 at 7:13 PM

No suggestions from me, Dave. The combination of warm and cool colors is very striking as are the details in the tufa formations. Great job on this. I also like those reflections.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on February 27, 2016 at 10:13 PM

"how did you get such detail and sharpness front to way, way back at f/11? I guess with the laws of DOF, the big tufa up front are far enough away that you're getting the full, real DOF, even at f/11"

Lon,
Yeh, the tufa are quite large so they are not as close as you would suspect. Rather than just peg my aperature to f/16, I try to be mindful of staying nearer to the sweet spot of the lens and only take as much DOF as required. I need to learn combining focus stacked images in PP one of these days.

Registered on December 10, 2015, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on February 28, 2016 at 2:27 AM

Those golden colors with that band of blue sandwiched between them, that is just gorgeous. The subtle details in the sky, the perfect reflection.... Can't think of anything to improve this winner!

Oh, btw, two dust bunnies: one in the ulc, one in the urc.

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on February 28, 2016 at 8:21 AM

Beautiful Mono Lake image, Dave, with sublime light. I like that this was taken from a different vantage point. Perfectly exposed.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on February 28, 2016 at 10:24 AM

This is a beautiful image, Dave. Excellent composition, beautiful sky, wonderful reflections and such interesting shapes. Very cool work.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on February 28, 2016 at 12:13 PM

Hi Dave

Love the wonderful colors and symmetry of this excellent composition.

Albert Darmo
Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on February 29, 2016 at 3:48 PM

Very nice use of color here. The layers with the warm orange tones at the top and the bottom interspersed with the blue are beautiful. Nice composition. Really needs to be seen large.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on February 29, 2016 at 5:15 PM

Outstanding image and color palette. Really dig the stillness and light. devil

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on February 29, 2016 at 5:47 PM

That is a very impressive Mono image!!! Excellent! Great light and beautiful reflection. Well done!!!

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Ryan Shain on February 29, 2016 at 6:41 PM

Just killer color captured in this image Dave!! I love how the reflections in the water perfectly mimic the gorgeous color in the sky! Really nice work with chosen the comp too, as the rock formations are placed beautifully in the frame.

EXCELLENT WORK devil

Registered on February 20, 2007, 226 Posts, 4571 Comments

Comment posted by Anil Rao on March 8, 2016 at 4:43 AM

A really outstanding scene. One of the very best takes on Mono Lake. The colors are gorgeous and I also just love the clarity and stillness.

Registered on November 15, 2003, 234 Posts, 4923 Comments