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Mammoth Lakes California Area
Not sure whether these belong here or in landscapes. Since I had to get on a plane to take the photos, I decided to post here. These are a few shots from a recent trip to the Mammoth Lakes area of California. I was attending a photo workshop and took time before, after, and during the workshop to take a few photos. If you have not been in the Eastern Sierras, go when when you have a chance. This was my first trip to this part of the US and it will not be the last.
Mono Lake: The only way water leaves Mono Lake is via evaporation; this makes the lake salty and alkaline. The City of Los Angeles has been diverting water from the Mono Basin since 1941. That diversion has cut the lake volume in half and has doubled its alkalinity and salinity. An extended court fight has stopped the water diversion and Mono Lake is once again growing.
One of the most intriguing of Mono Lake's features are the tufa (pronounced "toofah") towers visible along much of the shoreline. Tufa are made from calcium carbonate. The water in the underground streams that feed the lake contains calcium. The calcium in this water reacts with the salts in the lake to form a calcium carbonate shell around the incoming water. Declining lake levels have exposed the tufa towers. Some of these tufa towers are up to 30 feet high.
Although this might sound like a dead lake, it is full of life. Mono supports a simple but productive food chain. At the bottom of that chain are microscopic, single-celled algae. The algae serves as food for two other species - brine shrimp and brine flies which, in turn, serve as the major food source for literally millions of water birds. There are at least 80 species of water fowl that call Mono Lake home.
If you want to get sunset and sunrise photos at Mono Lake, I suggest you stay overnight in Lee Vining. I stayed in Mammoth Lakes and it took about an hour to get to a shooting position at the tufas . Staying in Lee Vining would also put you in a good location to visit Bodie later in the day. Be sure to clean your tripod and camera gear well after shooting at Mono Lake. That fine dust they have been exposed to contains stuff that will eat metal and many fabrics.
Sunset at the south tufas at Mono Lake.
Mono Lake sunset.
Sunrise at the south tufas, Mono Lake.
Bodie State Park (extracted from Wikipedia): Bodie began as a mining camp following the discovery of gold in 1859. In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp with a few prospectors and company employees to a boomtown. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 6000 people and around 2,000 buildings. The town boomed from late 1877 through mid to late 1880. As a gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including two banks, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, a railroad, miners' and mechanics' unions, several daily newspapers, and a jail.
Mining booms in Butte, Montana; Tombstone, Arizona; and Utah lured men away from Bodie. The single miners who originally came to the town in the 1870s moved on to these other booms, which eventually turned Bodie into a family-oriented town. Despite the population decline, the mines were flourishing, and in 1881 Bodie's ore production was recorded at a high of $3.1 million. In 1893, the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant, located approximately 12 miles away on Green Creek, above Bridgeport, California. This installation is marked as one of the country's first transmissions of electricity over a long distance.
The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, The Bodie Miner. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed. In 1917, the Bodie Railway was abandoned and its iron tracks were scrapped. The last mine closed in 1942, due to a War Production Board order shutting down all nonessential gold mines in the United States.
By 1920, Bodie's population was recorded by the US Federal Census at a total of 120 people. Despite the decline, Bodie had permanent residents through most of the 20th century, even after a fire ravaged much of the downtown business district in 1932. A post office operated at Bodie from 1877 to 1942. In the 1940s, the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land, hired caretakers to protect and to maintain the town's structures. The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 it became Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Today, Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only a small part of the town survives. Certain areas of the town are off limits to walking - hidden mine shafts, etc. Few of the buildings are open but you can look through the windows. There are free guided tours of the remaining stamping mill several times a day. This is well worth the time. When you arrive at Bodie, go to the museum first to sign up for one of the tours.
The California Parks website for Bodie Park is here.
Abandoned buildings at Bodie State Park, California.
Looking toward Green Street.
Looking up at Bodie Ridge from near the corner of Main and Green Streets.
At the corner of Green and Wood Street.
Green Street.
The Standard Stamping Mill was one of ten stamping mills that operated along Bodie Ridge.
A view of Bodie from the location of the Standard Stamping Mill.
Infrared photo at Bodie State Park, California showing the Standard Stamping Mill in the background.
Old truck at Bodie State Park.
Same truck in infrared.
Whiskey bottles in the museum at Bodie State Park.
Infrared shot of old mining equipment at Bodie State Park.
Infrared of Post Office and IOOF hall at Bodie State Park
Mammoth Lakes:
Minaret Vista is located a few miles from and about 2000 feet above the town of Mammoth Lakes. Being a sea level dwelling critter I was constantly reminded of the 10,000 foot altitude as I walked around up there. The Minarets are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They are easily viewed from Minaret Vista, a Forest Service recreation site located several miles past the Main Lodge of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and can be accessed by car. Collectively, they form an arête and are a prominent feature in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. An arête is a thin, knife-like, ridge of rock which is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. This is a good site for either sunrise or sunset shooting. Be sure to bring warm clothes and gloves.
Pano of sunset from Minaret Vista in Mammoth Lakes.
As the sun was rising, the moon was setting.
Wildflowers at Minaret Vista.
Convict Lake, south of Mammoth Lakes, is a great place for sunrise shooting. There are usually good reflections of Mt. Morrison in the lake. There was a bit of a breeze the morning I was shooting there and I did not get the reflections I was hoping for. However, I was able to shoot the setting moon as the sun was rising.
Sunrise at Convict Lake.
You can see the rest of the photos here.
Mono Lake: The only way water leaves Mono Lake is via evaporation; this makes the lake salty and alkaline. The City of Los Angeles has been diverting water from the Mono Basin since 1941. That diversion has cut the lake volume in half and has doubled its alkalinity and salinity. An extended court fight has stopped the water diversion and Mono Lake is once again growing.
One of the most intriguing of Mono Lake's features are the tufa (pronounced "toofah") towers visible along much of the shoreline. Tufa are made from calcium carbonate. The water in the underground streams that feed the lake contains calcium. The calcium in this water reacts with the salts in the lake to form a calcium carbonate shell around the incoming water. Declining lake levels have exposed the tufa towers. Some of these tufa towers are up to 30 feet high.
Although this might sound like a dead lake, it is full of life. Mono supports a simple but productive food chain. At the bottom of that chain are microscopic, single-celled algae. The algae serves as food for two other species - brine shrimp and brine flies which, in turn, serve as the major food source for literally millions of water birds. There are at least 80 species of water fowl that call Mono Lake home.
If you want to get sunset and sunrise photos at Mono Lake, I suggest you stay overnight in Lee Vining. I stayed in Mammoth Lakes and it took about an hour to get to a shooting position at the tufas . Staying in Lee Vining would also put you in a good location to visit Bodie later in the day. Be sure to clean your tripod and camera gear well after shooting at Mono Lake. That fine dust they have been exposed to contains stuff that will eat metal and many fabrics.
Sunset at the south tufas at Mono Lake.
Mono Lake sunset.
Sunrise at the south tufas, Mono Lake.
Bodie State Park (extracted from Wikipedia): Bodie began as a mining camp following the discovery of gold in 1859. In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp with a few prospectors and company employees to a boomtown. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 6000 people and around 2,000 buildings. The town boomed from late 1877 through mid to late 1880. As a gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including two banks, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, a railroad, miners' and mechanics' unions, several daily newspapers, and a jail.
Mining booms in Butte, Montana; Tombstone, Arizona; and Utah lured men away from Bodie. The single miners who originally came to the town in the 1870s moved on to these other booms, which eventually turned Bodie into a family-oriented town. Despite the population decline, the mines were flourishing, and in 1881 Bodie's ore production was recorded at a high of $3.1 million. In 1893, the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant, located approximately 12 miles away on Green Creek, above Bridgeport, California. This installation is marked as one of the country's first transmissions of electricity over a long distance.
The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, The Bodie Miner. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed. In 1917, the Bodie Railway was abandoned and its iron tracks were scrapped. The last mine closed in 1942, due to a War Production Board order shutting down all nonessential gold mines in the United States.
By 1920, Bodie's population was recorded by the US Federal Census at a total of 120 people. Despite the decline, Bodie had permanent residents through most of the 20th century, even after a fire ravaged much of the downtown business district in 1932. A post office operated at Bodie from 1877 to 1942. In the 1940s, the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land, hired caretakers to protect and to maintain the town's structures. The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 it became Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Today, Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only a small part of the town survives. Certain areas of the town are off limits to walking - hidden mine shafts, etc. Few of the buildings are open but you can look through the windows. There are free guided tours of the remaining stamping mill several times a day. This is well worth the time. When you arrive at Bodie, go to the museum first to sign up for one of the tours.
The California Parks website for Bodie Park is here.
Abandoned buildings at Bodie State Park, California.
Looking toward Green Street.
Looking up at Bodie Ridge from near the corner of Main and Green Streets.
At the corner of Green and Wood Street.
Green Street.
The Standard Stamping Mill was one of ten stamping mills that operated along Bodie Ridge.
A view of Bodie from the location of the Standard Stamping Mill.
Infrared photo at Bodie State Park, California showing the Standard Stamping Mill in the background.
Old truck at Bodie State Park.
Same truck in infrared.
Whiskey bottles in the museum at Bodie State Park.
Infrared shot of old mining equipment at Bodie State Park.
Infrared of Post Office and IOOF hall at Bodie State Park
Mammoth Lakes:
Minaret Vista is located a few miles from and about 2000 feet above the town of Mammoth Lakes. Being a sea level dwelling critter I was constantly reminded of the 10,000 foot altitude as I walked around up there. The Minarets are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They are easily viewed from Minaret Vista, a Forest Service recreation site located several miles past the Main Lodge of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and can be accessed by car. Collectively, they form an arête and are a prominent feature in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. An arête is a thin, knife-like, ridge of rock which is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. This is a good site for either sunrise or sunset shooting. Be sure to bring warm clothes and gloves.
Pano of sunset from Minaret Vista in Mammoth Lakes.
As the sun was rising, the moon was setting.
Wildflowers at Minaret Vista.
Convict Lake, south of Mammoth Lakes, is a great place for sunrise shooting. There are usually good reflections of Mt. Morrison in the lake. There was a bit of a breeze the morning I was shooting there and I did not get the reflections I was hoping for. However, I was able to shoot the setting moon as the sun was rising.
Sunrise at Convict Lake.
You can see the rest of the photos here.
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Comments
I love the old buildings in Bodie State Park. Could they have been given a larger canvas, or are they pressed in by other stuff? Would have liked to hear something about the history of these, both new and old. As well as some info about other shots. That would also be in keeping with the traditions of this forum.
Thanks for the pics!
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
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I added some information about the shooting sites and a few more photos.
Stone Coast Photography Facebook
I love your images...
What month did you visit the area? The cloud formations are absolutely lovely.
Do you consider the photo workshop worth the price of admission or could you have done the same thing (with a bit of research) on your own?
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
The photo workshop was with Moose Peterson; we worked on Photoshop and using a camera. We did not do any shooting as part of the workshop. I did all the shooting on my own using Moose's suggestions for shooting locations and the research I did on Dgrin about shooting in this area. I enjoyed the workshop. It mainly confirmed that what I was doing for processing raw images was in the right direction. The workshop built on what I had learned from Marc Muench at the Dgrin Shootout in Acadia National Park a few years ago. Learned some new things about my camera also.
Stone Coast Photography Facebook
light.
Bravo!
Alvin
Fremont, CA
SmugMug Gallery