Lake Almanor

Lake Almanor in Plumas County, California. An area that wasn’t on my radar until someone I met at a market asked me if I could get a photo there. With the challenge accepted, I did some research, and normally I can find a shot online that I really like that I can emulate, but for this one, I couldn’t find anything. So I would have to do it the old fashioned way and drive around the lake and hope to find a view I liked.

I drove up early in the morning to make sure I had the whole day to find something. I started in the town of Chester at the north side of the lake, and found some cool views that would be good in the fall or summer, but nothing for the time being. I had a friend in the area that I hadn’t seen in a while, so I thought I would catch up with him while I was there. I told my friend Matt why I was there, and he was kind enough to send me a list of spots that he thought could be good, so after our time together I set off to see all the spots on the list and then some.

I spent the whole day driving and hiking around the entire lake, and by the end of it, I was completely worn out. Every spot I went to seemed lackluster, and I was beginning to think that maybe Lake Almanor was just not a photogenic lake. Towards the end of the day, I got so irriatated and frustrated that I decided to just go home. I didn’t get very far before I pulled over and decided to really think through what I was doing. If I really had to pick a spot, there was one that I would say was my favorite. So I decided to go back there and see what happened.

When I came the first time, I remember saying to myself, “wow, it looks so serene.” Lassen in the background, the shoreline guiding the eye to the Mountain, but for some reason it didn’t seem like enough. When I came back, I saw these burned logs in the water that I thought I would incorporate, and then when the sun set, the floating clouds over the mountain made it even more complete. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would, and I can’t believe I almost decided to say, “forget it,” and go home.