Crepuscular rays, Alabama Hills

Here’s another from Alabama hills as the crepuscular rays morphed into stunning uniform lines. I ran around looking for a different foreground and ended up finding a nice set of plants that almost mimicked the patterns in the rays. What an awesome display of light it was.

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June Lake Milky Way reflections, Eastern Sierras

Here’s a fun one from June Lake. We were scouting fall colors in the loop to line something up for a MW shot but were unsuccessful before it got dark so we ended up here shooting our first MW shots of the trip. I was planning on stacking the foreground to kill some noise but in one of my frames I caught what looks to be car headlights shining back out at me so I ended up using this single foreground frame, stacked with shots of the MW to reduce noise in the sky and water reflections. The lake was pretty calm, but the wind ended up picking up later in the night so we definitely got there at the right time to catch the reflections.

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Convict Lake fall aspen colors

In an earlier post, I discussed using CPL filters while shooting fall colors. In this instance I strengthened the amount to cut through the reflections on the water surface to show the submerged rocks and use them as my foreground element. I was careful to not over-polarize with my wide angle to cause uneven hues in the sky. I snapped this just as the sunrise light hit the tip of Laurel Mountain from behind. The air was a bit hazy and the light was a lot softer than I normally see here. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 14-24, f/18, 2 sec, ISO-50

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Foggy Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite National Park

The low clouds formed the perfect framing around Bridalveil Fall, partially obscuring the tips of the Cathedrals. The mood of this shot was incredible. Not too long after this, we were engulfed in the fog, and then the sun rose up over the mountains and broke free from the clouds adding some surprisingly nice sunrise light over the scene. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/14, ½ sec, ISO-50 

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June Lake road fall aspens

June Loop was probably the best I’ve seen in all my years coming here…just look at this guy’s face. The sun was in the perfect position, giving the scene some back/sidelight to give the trees a nice glow. There were some nice yellows and greens mixed together. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO-320.

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Convict Lake Milky Way fall aspens

Here’s a different take at Convict lake at 24mm. This is a composite as I didn’t come here at night to shoot the MW so I combined my MW shot from the night prior, with the foreground shot before the sun came up on the day I headed home. I chose to only frame the fall color and reflections giving the rest of the frame to the sky. Maybe one of these fall seasons I’ll come back and get the milk with reflections in the still water.

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June Lake road golden aspens

I shot this comp years ago and have been wanting to re-shoot it under better conditions. This season I got my chance as the aspens along the loop were amazing. I found a nice spot on the road with interesting foreground patterns both due to the shadows and the road cracks.  Hardest part of this shot is playing cat and mouse with the cars zooming down the road. 

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