Notes To My Mother

  Whenever I think of the Eastern Sierras one of the first images that comes to mind is Mono Lake.  I've. known this lake since I was 4 years old and I can remember driving by it on highway 395 with the water very near the road.  It has lost a lot of water since then (1946-47) but it retains its beauty.  This image was taken in February when the Milky Way is low in the horizon in the early morning.  You may already know it is best to shoot the stars in the darkest hours and that would be after Astronomical Twilight ends at night and before it begins again in the morning.  It goes like this:  in the morning first there is Astronomical Twilight when the dimmest light begins(about 30 min), then Nautical Twilight (another 30 min) then Civil twilight followed by sunrise. The Golden Hour is just before and after sunrise.  This image was taken in the last moments of darkness just as Astronomical Twilight was beginning.  You can see the beginning of ...