It’s nice to feel how hot the sun feels in the mid-morning as we wandered around the lake area. It is windy and a lot of ripples on the surface of the lake water prevent reflections of the Tufa’s on the surface. The Tufa’s are a natural formation which make this place so unique. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake
The area we are staying in; Lee Vining, CA is less than 15 minutes from where we have been photographing. The good news is it’s close, the bad news is there’s very few decent places to eat. Not a big deal but a small distraction. The other “bad” news is that cell service is horrible. I can barely get a call and most txt’s won’t go through. I wanted to say “hi” but can’t so I will have to do it person when I get home.
Our mornings are unplanned until about noon, then we are in a class room until about 5, then dinner and then out to our next location. Last night we shot the beautiful moonscapes of the lake surface and the south Tufa’s which were amazing. I don’t have any of that processed yet, but here is what it looks like in the daytime. Believe me, there’s no comparison to what it looks like at night.
For someone like me who’s never seen anything like this, it’s unusual to say the least. You can see how windy it was by noticing the water. It’s also very beautiful and lacks the feel of being trampled upon by tourists. There were a lot of visitors but everyone was careful not to damage the fragile landscape.
But there’s always different ways to see the same thing, and here’s another. Because of the elevation and the general lack of clouds, it seemed like a great place to do some Infrared photography too. Infrared also makes it feel even more surreal and closer to what it actually looks like in my mind’s eye. Here’s a different view, same general area but with my Infrared camera:

Now remember, these are just snapshots from my first morning there, not the good stuff! Maybe tomorrow I can have some images processed and will show you the night photographs.
I hope all my friends at BBI are making great progress and having a good day, I miss you all.