Eastern Sierra

About a third of the trip was spent around Mono Lake, Long Valley & Owens Valley -- namely the Eastern Sierra. Specific locations included:

• Mono Lake -- south shore's South Tufas, Sand Tufas and Naval Beach areas which had just reopened after being closed due to extensive surrounding damage from 2020 wildfires. The second workshop visited when it was possible to shoot the rising moon and the Milky Way together. This only occurs 2-3 nights every Spring & Autumn.

• Crowley Lake Columns -- this unique area was previously unknown to me, where falling snow melted on top of a thick, hot layer of volcanic ash/tuff shortly after deposited by a nearby eruption. The melted snow soaked down into the ash layer and boiled, forming the evenly spaced columns which were later exposed through erosion.

• Mammoth Lake's Hot Creek -- this geothermal area can make for a beautiful image where rising steam frames a lovely creek drainage with the Sierra crest in the background. Alas, conditions weren't in my favor during my visit -- the 5°F air temp resulted in too little visibility.

• Round Valley & Buttermilk Hills -- the lower portions of this area north and west of Bishop have lovely layers of foliage beneath Sierra or White Mountains backdrops. And the higher Buttermilks have interesting rounded granite outcroppings and boulders framing the Sierra crest.

• Owens River -- this meandering small river presents many photogenic curves framing the Sierra crest.

• Olancha Dunes -- this small field of sand dunes at the southern end of the Owens Valley has many Joshua Trees being buried by the shifting sands.

Panoramas – Tap/click on a pano's thumbnail to show an interactive, moving panorama; use the on-screen control bar or your finger/mouse to move around:

Mono Lake Sunset:

Mono Lake Sunrise:

Image Gallery – Tap to view an individual image, then swipe to advance; use the top-right controls for auto play & other options (e.g, tap the curved arrow to open sharing options):