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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Liquid landscape

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This is a closeup, taken close to the water, of reflections from the waves on Mono Lake, in California.

In the photo below, you can see how the landscape of tan and grey desert, blue sky, and bright clouds is chaotically reflected by the shifting waters.


The wind was calm.  Possibly, the highly saline water had a smoother and more reflective surface than ordinary water.  The closer I placed the camera to the water, the better the photos.

You have to shoot at high speed and a high f-stop to ensure photos are in focus.  Shoot a lot of photos, since it's impossible to compose the shifting composition.

But eventually a wave got the camera wet.  After that exposure to salt, the camera became unreliable.  So these photos were expensive!

Mono Lake is fascinating--very exotic.  It has "tufa towers," strange sculptures emerging from the water, made from salts deposited by springs.  It has vast populations of black flies and crustaceans, the only animals that thrive in the salty water.

During another part of my paddle, I came across a wide strip of white foam.  It probably formed along the shore, kicked up by the waves, then blown out into the lake.   It was dazzling white--like paddling through fresh snow.


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