Mono Lake

Mono Lake, one of the most fascinated pieces of nature in California. I came here for the first time with my wife five or six years ago on a family trip, and we found these tufa towers coming out of the water so interesting. I had never seen anything like it, nor have I since. I hadn't gotten into photography yet, but once I did, it had always been in the back of my mind to get a photo of this wonder of California.

Once I realized I could sleep in my car, I knew I had to make it out to Mono Lake sooner rather than later. It's a 4 hour drive from my house, and I wanted to capture it at either sunset or sunrise. I had a couple free days coming up, and as I was looking at the upcoming forecast, the Eastern Sierra's were the only part of the state that had some clouds, so it seemed like today was the perect time to make the trek out there. I was just finishing up at a market, so I would have to move quickly if I was going to make it for the sunset. I came home, unloaded my market stuff, loaded my hiking and photo stuff, sent my wife an unexpected text, "hey, I am going to go spend the night at Mono Lake," and off I went.

I left a little later than I would have liked, so I felt like I had to hurry. I hadn't been here in a long time, so once I got to the area, it took me a little bit to remember how to get to this part of the lake. I arrived about 30 minutes before sunset, so I got all my gear as fast as I could and ran to the lake. 

Mono lake is a popular area, so it didn't surprise me to see people already have their spot staked out. I walked around a bit, trying to find an open area I liked, and settled on this one. I wanted to find a tufa island in the foreground and the background, and this was exactly my vision. I also managed to have it all to myself. 

As the sun descended, the clouds seemed perfect for a colorful sky. Then, my spur of the moment decision had paid off. The sky gave the perfect backdrop for these otherwordly things coming out of the water. I finally had my photo of the famous tufa towers.