Darvin Atkeson
Falling Star over Convict Lake
NOTE: This is a little dark when viewed small on a bright background.
I have seen so many great images of Convict Lake with the fall colors on
flickr.com I decided to go up and try and catch some of that fall color for
myself. (See my previous images) So I headed off on the long drive over to
the Eastern Sierra. As it turned out Convict Lake had experienced an early
freeze which had turned the trees brown. To boot the day I picked was right
in the middle of a $10,000 fishing tournament. Needless to say fishermen
lined the banks and boats filled the lake as the sun arrived so it was a
good thing I turned up early as I managed to squeeze off a few shots as the
sunlight just started to cause Mt. Laurel to glow.
I dragged my camera and tripod out at O dark-thirty and stood there freezing
my butt off on the shores of the lake. The sun had not yet rose
sufficiently to actually light Mt. Laurel but the stars were awesome. Even
at a 30 second exposure the image needed some lightning and noise reduction
in Photoshop but turned out great. The light you see on Mt. Laurel in this
image is referred to as Alpine Glow and occurs before the mountain was
directly being lit by the rising sun. The stars are streaked slightly
showing you just how much the Earth rotates in 30 seconds.
Convict lake sits at the base if Mt. Laurel (11,812 ft). In the spring you
can see small waterfalls on the far side of the lake and a good size stream
feeds the lake. Convict Lake sits just off Highway 395 which is one of
most spectacular drives you can take in the US. It starts in the stark
deserts of Southern California and runs along the back side of the Sierra
Mountains which just up suddenly out of the high desert. I highly recommend
this drive to photographers in both spring and then once again in the fall.
-Darv
© Darvin Atkeson
California Photographer
Falling Star over Convict Lake
NOTE: This is a little dark when viewed small on a bright background.
I have seen so many great images of Convict Lake with the fall colors on
flickr.com I decided to go up and try and catch some of that fall color for
myself. (See my previous images) So I headed off on the long drive over to
the Eastern Sierra. As it turned out Convict Lake had experienced an early
freeze which had turned the trees brown. To boot the day I picked was right
in the middle of a $10,000 fishing tournament. Needless to say fishermen
lined the banks and boats filled the lake as the sun arrived so it was a
good thing I turned up early as I managed to squeeze off a few shots as the
sunlight just started to cause Mt. Laurel to glow.
I dragged my camera and tripod out at O dark-thirty and stood there freezing
my butt off on the shores of the lake. The sun had not yet rose
sufficiently to actually light Mt. Laurel but the stars were awesome. Even
at a 30 second exposure the image needed some lightning and noise reduction
in Photoshop but turned out great. The light you see on Mt. Laurel in this
image is referred to as Alpine Glow and occurs before the mountain was
directly being lit by the rising sun. The stars are streaked slightly
showing you just how much the Earth rotates in 30 seconds.
Convict lake sits at the base if Mt. Laurel (11,812 ft). In the spring you
can see small waterfalls on the far side of the lake and a good size stream
feeds the lake. Convict Lake sits just off Highway 395 which is one of
most spectacular drives you can take in the US. It starts in the stark
deserts of Southern California and runs along the back side of the Sierra
Mountains which just up suddenly out of the high desert. I highly recommend
this drive to photographers in both spring and then once again in the fall.
-Darv
© Darvin Atkeson
California Photographer