Lake Tahoe - Kings Beach

I woke up at 4am with plans to be in the mountains from sunrise to sunset. Conditions seemed good for both, so I couldn't wait to see what the day would bring. The sunrise ended up not being anything special, so it was time to go explore new spots around Lake Tahoe and hopefully get a good sunset photo.

My expedition brought me to a place on the east side of the lake that seemed like a good place to photograph the sunset. The clouds were looking prime, so I couldn't wait. But two hours before sunset, dark clouds began to cover the whole sky and I was sure I wasn't going to be seeing any colorful skies today. I waited a little longer to see if anything would change, but in the end, I just decided to call it and start heading home.

But then, the unexpected happened.

As I was heading home, driving on the north side of the lake, I could see there was a little bit of light shining through on the far end, giving it a cool, moody vibe that enticed me. I thought to myself, "wow, this could be cool if I had a nice pier to pair it with." And then lo and behold, I stumble across this... jackpot. I pull into the parking lot, get all my gear out as fast as I can, and hurry over. The only problem was, there were a ton of people on and around the pier. I could edit them out, but I would prefer not to if I could. After standing there for about 20 minutes, I finally got a short window of time with no people. I snapped as many photos as I could in that brief moment, and couldn't believe the lighting held up long enough for me to get the shot. As I was getting in my car to leave, I saw that small pocket of light on the far side of the lake close up leaving it completely gray... it was like destiny. 

Some of my favorite shots have been ones that I just happened to stumble on. Being a landscape photographer, to get an above average shot, it usually takes a lot of planning and calculating with the weather conditions and locations to really get a good one. So anytime I can get one that I just happen to stumble on, it feels like a gift from above. Almost like God is up there like, "I admire all your effort and preparation, but here, here is a freebie you didn't expect."