American Southwest Day 1

Mono Lake and Yosemite 

As many of you know, I took another extended walkabout, this time through the American Southwest including parts of Nevada, California, Arizona, and Utah. I was gone about a month, but that time wasn't all spent photographing natures wonder. I also had a nice time visiting with family in Mesa, AZ and Provo, UT. In fact, even though I drove right through the heart of the canyons of Utah, I didn't take a single picture except of my grandkids. In fact, I only had about 7 days devoted to photography. 2 days in Mono Lake, 3 days in Death Valley and 2 days at the Grand Canyon/Sedona.

Death Valley was ruled by the wind. It was so windy that I wasn't able to use the 4x5 camera that I had with me and I already wrote about those experiences and posted 35mm snapshots. I now have the rest of my film back, and most of it is scanned, at least at low resolution (6mb flatbed scans). This gives me plenty of resolution for posting online photos. 

I arrived in Lee Vining, CA late on a Monday evening, just as the sun was going down. Since I had no idea where a cool place to take photos was, I just turned at the first place that looked good. It was a small state park on the west side of Mono Lake. It was empty and the scenery was nice, but not spectacular, so I enjoyed the peace and quiet as the sun sank beneath the mountains behind me. When it was dark, I checked into the hotel and went to sleep. I should have done some research (did I mention this trip was completely unplanned and last minute) on where to go, but alas, I was tired. 

My alarm went off at 4:30am. I had no idea what time the sun came up or where to go, so I wasn't really in a big hurry. I finally left the hotel room at about 5:15 just as the eastern sky was beginning to glow. I drove down to the lake by the visitors center, but didn't really see what I was looking for. I really needed a road that went along the south shore of the lake, but couldn't figure out how to get there. Finally, at about 6:00 am I went back to the cafe and asked the waitress, and she gave me good directions to where "all the photographers go" and then gave me directions to come back for good pancakes when I was done. 

By the time I got down to the lake, the sun was well up and I only had one camera with me, a Nikon F100 and it was loaded with Kodak TMax 100. I put on a red filter and took some shots, not really expecting anything to turn out since the lighting was pretty harsh. More than anything, I just wanted to use up the TMax so I could get Velvia in my camera. 

Monochrome Sufa. 35mm  Kodak Tmax 100 - 1/30 second f/11 28mm
I scouted the area for a few hours and found a composition that seemed it would work for a sunrise shot. The weather was calling for crystal clear skies and dead calm the next morning. This would work for the way I've been wanting to create photos. Then, I went in for breakfast (delicious pancakes, of course) and a map. 

I spent the afternoon hiking through Yosemite. The park was closed on the East side, but it isn't like they put up a fence or anything. Mostly, I followed a little creek, but did get sidetracked in a swampy area that resulted in me getting back to the car after dark and soaked up to my knees.

The monochrome scene of the falls was very challenging for me. I don't know how to compact the tonal range of a scene (in practice) and I certainly don't know how to do it with roll film. I set the log at medium grey and knew that the highlights and shadows would be out of range, so I tried to take that into consideration. I spent about an hour composing this picture and trying to pre-visualize the finished product. When I was done, I second guessed myself and took a bunch more from different viewpoints and focal lengths. But in the end, the one I agonized over is the one that I like. Go figure.
Late Winter Falls, Yosemite National Park
Late Winter Falls, Yosemite.  35mm Kodak Tmax 100 - 1/8 second f/11 28mm

This little river was chock full of native cutthroat that were rising and playing in the warm afternoon sun. Because the water is right at the base of the mountains, I couldn't get a picture with the water and the peaks until I came on this bend.
Looking for Trout
Looking for Trout. 35mm Fuji Velvia 100 - 1/60 second f/11 28mm

All in all, a nice pleasant day. I spent some quality time in the wilderness breathing air perfumed with a mixture of pine, meadows, and river. I put a good 7 or 8 miles on my hiking shoes.  And most importantly, there was a plan for the morning and I knew where I was going and how I was going to shoot.



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