Adventures During The Fall Get Together Weekend!

High winds and blowing detritus on the shores of mono lake on Saturday before the get together. That's what Steve Sieren, Mat Malone, Mike Bohlander, and myself experienced there while waiting for the full moon to rise into the earth shadow. I left these guys small in the frame on purpose to illustrate the environment and conditions better. The moonrise can be seen in the second comment below. It was a great time for sure. I enjoyed meeting everyone on sunday and viewing the portfolios as well. I hope everyone had as good a time and great results from the trip.

Chris

So the picture above is Steve Sieren, and Mat Malone, with Mike Bohlander out of the frame behind Steve. And of coures, myself behind the lens. The conditions here were more brutal, and extreme than the photo suggests, I think. Attatched here is the moonrise. I've tried to maximise the magenta here and it might be showing up in the moon a little bit?

Chris

And the fissures on top of the dune/hill behind us to the north. Very interesting landscape diversity here. These were up to 60 feet deep, and narrow like slot canyons.

Chris

WOW, this first image looks like a real challenge to be in, Chris. From the other side of the lake where Preston and I were at, we could see this activity taking place. In fact Preston commented on the dust kicking up and I followed up with, I'm sure glad we aren't over there right now.

The fissure image is interesting. I've only gone to the north side a few times and was unaware of these crevices.

Yikes! I hope you guys cleaned your gear really well after that episode! That dust is alkali, and if it comes into contact with moisture it could cause corrosion.

The 'dune/hill' to which you refre is called 'Black Point'. It is composed of pyroclastic material. The fissures you show here are called, 'The Fissures'. I was up there a few years ago with Reno, and found it to be a rather bizarre, yet beautiful, landscape.

Nice shots from an awsome place, Chris.

-P

Chris,

After seeing the first image posted here, I'm awfully glad that we were near the South Tufa on Test Station Road for the moonrise. Not much wind, no alkali and got to watch the moon rise over the same clouds... :-) You still managed to post a cool series with the first showing the conditions, and the second showing the results. For what it's worth, I might consider cropping a little bit more from the bottom of your moonrise for a more defined pano. But that's just my personal thought about it. I don't see any issues with color in the moon and certainly doesn't appear too magenta to me.

I'm looking forward to see more of your captures from the trip.

Lon

My first thought on seeing your fissure post was I'm glad one of you didn't fall in. Then I thought well look at how tough they were surviving the dust blasting, they could have captured an image looking up from the bottom of the slot canyon. But that's wild and crazy, great pictures and great stories, great experiences shared who could ask for more. The more I see from the folks that met at Silver lake the more I'm realizing what a special trip it was and what a group of special people I met. Great series Chris much better because I was there that day at the gathering.

Thanks all,

Paul

Man, looks like you all had some wonderful conditions! I love how the moon is just above the pink clouds in the 2nd.

Now that looks like fun! Seriously, I wish I would have been able to make that trip... looks like everyone had a good time.