Our recent trip to the eastern Sierra Nevada was a wonderful getaway, considering all the chaos we have been dealing with here in California. The extended Covid lockdowns, wild fires, and all the election hype... Sooooo nice to escape!
We ended up with (7) people from the S2 photo group joining us, along with a couple of spouses. (5) campers and a few in hotels, dispersed amongst (4) vehicles. We had a great time, all things considered, as we had to adjust last minute plans to avoid several National Forests, which were closed due to extreme fire danger. And we had to deal with wildfire smoke, that clouded up over Mono Lake, and filtered into a few sunset scenes.
We explored several areas seeking fall colors, and ended up catching a few sunrise and sunsets, including an overnight stay at Alabama Hills. We planned a few photo challenges, and had a few devotional times as well. I truly appreciate the efforts and engagement from the group, and enjoyed the company of a few like minded Christian photographers, all trying to display God's handiwork, through still images.
Our first stop was Red Rock State Park. And although it was meant to break up the drive, it provided an opportunity to capture some very unique formations and colors.
We ended up at Lone Pine, CA for our first night, and captured sunset, a moonrise, and sunrise the next morning. The colors and textures were overwhelming and beg for more days of exploring. I'm sure a return trip will be planned soon!
As an analog film photographer, this is a haven for B&W images, using traditional black and white film. I shot two roles and could have spent several days more, and burned through many rolls of B&W film. (Will need to go back more regularly)
From Lone Pine, we headed north, passing through Bishop and Lee Vining, all the way to Twin Lakes, after finding out that the camp sites near Virginia Lakes were closing early.
Several sunrises, and some color scouting turned up a few fall color images, but we struggled to find good color, as we were a bit early, and further north then originally planned.
But, we were persistent and found a decent band of color near upper Summer Meadow.
We also explored the Virginia Creek area, and caught a bit more detail and some good colors.
We stayed two nights at Twin Lakes, and finally headed home over the Sonora Pass. We had a few more stops and captured more color on this highway 108 route.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with fellow S2 photographers, and hope we all came back with a library of images, to edit, play and explore, for many days to come.
