Iron Creek Photography®: Mono Lake California

Monday, March 18, 2013

Mono Lake California

Canon 1DsIII EF135mm f/112 1/160 ISO 50

Tufa formations, Mono Lake

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (50mm) f11 1/80 ISO 100

Don's been to Mono Lake before and wanted to share the experience with Sandy so we decided this year to make a stop on our way from Carmel CA to Death Valley.

Sierras along the way to Mono Lake

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (70mm) f/18 1/160 ISO 50

Canon 1DsIII 24-70 (45mm) f/11 1/80 ISO 50

Mono Lake is best described as a "fairy-tail: lake with eerie tufa towers growing in the water along the shore and inland. The fairy-tail mineral structures are created when fresh-water springs bubble up through the lake's alkaline waters.

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (28mm) f/8 1/125 ISO 50

Canon 1DsII EF24-70 (70mm) f/11 1/100 ISO 100

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (24mm) f/11 1/100 ISO 100

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (42mm) f/11 1/100 ISO 100

However you see it, Mono Lake is located in the Eastern Sierras of California and is home to millions of migratory and nesting birds.

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (50mm) f/11 1/100 ISO 100

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (35mm) f/11 1/100 ISO 100

Canon 1DsIII EF24-70 (33mm) f/11 1/100 ISO 100

The day we visited Mono Lake it was extremely cold and very windy. Driving into the parking lot we found we had the place to ourselves and we didn't see signs of life the entire time we were there. There's a boardwalk leading from the parking lot out to the shore. Once at the shore you are free to walk along it and get very close to the various formations close to the shoreline. We began at the parking lot at South Tufa and after walking out to the shore drove over to Navy Beach. We've only scratched the surface of Mono Lake having visited twice, both times in February. We're planning a return sometime in the spring or fall when the weather will be better suited for a longer exploration.