After three weeks of being on the road I’m finally back up in Bozeman. It was a great few weeks and I’m still getting through the work load. The best apart of the last few weeks is that i got to spend the majority of that time with the family. The house being Mammoth Lakes makes for a perfect place to rest between trips. I am very fortunate in the way. Well even with all the submissions, Dad and I still had to get out, once for a PT that he was doing and the other just because we could.
In Mammoth we have what’s called the Lakes Basin which is where tourists love to come to during the summer to fish and even more like to visit in the winter to ski. I personally have spent many hours up there doing both. It’s also one of the best places to go for a quick outing. With the right clouds anything is possible from great fall color to stunning black and whites. I think it’s safe to say which route i went with here.
This happens to be Lake Mary which is sorta the center of the Lakes Basin and the largest lake by far. I had an interesting time playing around with this scenario. The lake is a lot lower then usual and as a result more stumps, rocks and sandbars are visible. Some spots add more character to the scene while other spots really don’t. I put this example up for just that reason. Up top is a really wide shot, with that ugly tanish sandbar on the left. I liked going wide for this shot because of the ripples. I have no doubt that i am not the only person here who has had thought that. The problem is that sandbar, it just don’t work. A stump would be better, at least that can be removed. Even bringing down the tone of that spot won’t help. The best scenario was zooming in and getting a much tighter shot. No sandbar and a stronger composition as a result. The moral behind this story is when you are planning out your black and whites in the camera be very careful of that foreground. If it’s too bright the eye will get stuck there and never leave. Black and Whites are not nearly as forgiving due to the relationship between light and dark.
In the Camera Bag:
Nkkon D3, AF-S 24-70 f/2.8, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film