Night Photography in the Eastern Sierras

It is hard to pick a favorite place to be at night in the Sierras because there are so many great places. Lake Sabrina ranks very hight on my list for a number of reasons. One, its elevation is very high at just over 9,100 ft which helps with reducing the atmosphere between the camera and the stars. It is also a very scenic spot, both in the daytime and at night. In the middle of the drought the water level was very low which made a shot like this one impossible. But during wet years it is a joy to shoot. It is also very scenic in the daytime, especially first thing in the morning. And finally, it is easy to get to being just 18 miles on highway 168 out of Bishop.

Another easily accessible night location is Tioga Lake located along highway 120 just past the top of Tioga Pass when heading west. The only problem with this location are the cars that keep coming on the highway to the left of this scene. A little patience and you will get some nice shots between cars.

Not quite as available as the previous two sites, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is located in the White Mountains, east of Bishop. Take highway 395 South to Big Pine, then highway 168 to White Mountain Road which will take you to the Schulman Grove and visitor center. Trail lead out of the parking lot. The Bristlecone in the image above is in the Schulman Grove and is often cited as Methuselah, the second oldest tree in the world at 4855 years old. I'm not convinced this is methuselah, but it is a gorgeous specimen of a Bristlecone. If you go here at night be prepared for company as it is a popular photography location.

Comments

The Aurora Borealis, May 10, 2024

This last May, my wife, Jan, and I were on vacation in the San Juan Islands, WA. We were there for a week staying at the Trumpeter Inn, a B&B on San Juan Island. Mid way through our stay we heard there was to be a Northern Lights display and that we would likely be able to see it since we were at a latitude just north of Victoria, BC. The excitement was immediate. The conditions were just right as the sky was cloudless and the moon was in its crescent phase and would be low on the horizon (and therefore not overly bright) during the expected good viewing time between 10 pm and 2 am. The image above was taken that night and is what I was expecting to see, a green Aurora. Little did we know what was to come! Early on the was the first hint that something special was about to happen as color in addition to green began to show. I found this very exciting as I had seen green auroras before but never one with the purple/blue colors an...

Aurora Borealis - May 10, 2024, Last Installment.

On Friday afternoon, May 10, 2024, Jan and I were getting coffee in a very small somewhat crowded coffee shop in downtown Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We overheard people talking about the Northern Lights showing up that night. And thus began one of the most exciting nights of photography in my life. If you have read my three previous blog posts you have seen some of the spectacular color displays we were able to capture. In these images I have included some foreground information to put the color displays in perspective. The picture above was taken to the northeast of the Trumpeter property where they house the pygmy goats and alpacas. Looking to the northwest you can see the moon low on the horizon. The building shown here has an additional suite that is separate from the main B&B house.. This image is looking due east showin the stable for the animals. Another view to the east showing the building with the separate ...

Aurora Borealis May 10: A Northern Lights Extravaganza

As a quick update: All of these images were taken on the night of May 10-11, 2024. on San Juan Island WA. We were taken by surprise in the middle of our vacation when it was announced there was to be an aurora display that would likely be visible from our location. What an understatement! What we witnessed was simply out of this world. We saw colors I did not know existed in the auroras, especially the light pinks and, of all things, orange (neon). There were four of us on the grounds at the Trumpeter Inn during the "show". I was the only one with a DSLSR camera so the others would see something interesting and I would point my camera in that direction and take a timed exposer. Most were in the 15 to 20 second length. At one point, Jan looked up straight overhead and saw something that was quite unusual; it looked like some kind of convergence. I pointed the camera overhead and took this picture, which I find startling....

Notes To My Mother

Search This Blog