Colonnade (Explore #30)
I slipped away for the weekend with fellow photographer Miguel, bound for the Eastern Sierras. On past visits to this site at Lake Crowley in Mono County, I was determined to come back with enough equipment to light the structure for a multi-image composite.
The original plan was to set up a camera on a tripod some 30 ft out in the lake, sandbagged and aimed back toward shore...BUT, the high winds were not only generating crashing surf, the waves even had curls as they broke on the rocky beach. My gear was certainly drenched, as was I, after only a few minutes.
I switched to a composition near the water's edge and set the camera to take 20 sec exposures while I walked the exterior and interior of the structure, carefully light painting small sections at a time. Because this required crawling as far back into the caves as possible in total darkness before turning on the light, my forehead and hair met dozens of bats and mud swallows that were convinced they'd be getting a full night's sleep. ewww.
In all, this is a composite of some 50+ separate frames, blended together for the final result.
Lens is the DFA 35mm f/3.5 on the 645Z. Fairly heavy-handed processing applied.
More about the location. A prehistoric volcanic event caused the formation of this spectacular colonnade of mineral deposits over 760,000 years ago, which is slowly being exposed as moving water erodes the surrounding ash tuff. Lake Crowley in Mono County, California.
I can assure you, the hardest part was the hike back up to the truck with all the extra gear...and that was only our first stop of the night, lol.
Colonnade (Explore #30)
I slipped away for the weekend with fellow photographer Miguel, bound for the Eastern Sierras. On past visits to this site at Lake Crowley in Mono County, I was determined to come back with enough equipment to light the structure for a multi-image composite.
The original plan was to set up a camera on a tripod some 30 ft out in the lake, sandbagged and aimed back toward shore...BUT, the high winds were not only generating crashing surf, the waves even had curls as they broke on the rocky beach. My gear was certainly drenched, as was I, after only a few minutes.
I switched to a composition near the water's edge and set the camera to take 20 sec exposures while I walked the exterior and interior of the structure, carefully light painting small sections at a time. Because this required crawling as far back into the caves as possible in total darkness before turning on the light, my forehead and hair met dozens of bats and mud swallows that were convinced they'd be getting a full night's sleep. ewww.
In all, this is a composite of some 50+ separate frames, blended together for the final result.
Lens is the DFA 35mm f/3.5 on the 645Z. Fairly heavy-handed processing applied.
More about the location. A prehistoric volcanic event caused the formation of this spectacular colonnade of mineral deposits over 760,000 years ago, which is slowly being exposed as moving water erodes the surrounding ash tuff. Lake Crowley in Mono County, California.
I can assure you, the hardest part was the hike back up to the truck with all the extra gear...and that was only our first stop of the night, lol.