Whilst in the eastern Sierra Nevada, you should always visit the Mono Lake tufas. We had one sunset shoot there and one mid-morning set up. There were no clouds in the sky, so we opted for mostly infrared photography. Here is what you might see.
The best tufs are at the South Tufa area reached via Hwy 120 about five miles south of Lee Vining. It has a pretty large parking lot, but it will fill up during sunset, and sometimes for sunrise, too.
The sun is setting over the mountains and because there were no clouds (no hope of color), we set up facing east. There are quite a few tufas in this area. Probably the most photographed one during sunset is the most easterly one, called the “ship wreck.”
After the sun goes below the mountains, the light changes dramatically and the tufa goes from a nice white to a dull gray. If there is no chance for color, we usually leave.
I did notice each morning and evening, with no clouds and clear cold air, we got a good belt of venus, each day, but we decided to head in for dinner.
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