Aspen trees in the early morning light on Lake Sabrina

After my morning shoot on North Lake, I headed over to Lake Sabrina, sat out on the rocks and waited for the water surface to settle; it never did. I turned my attention to the east side of the lake. There were a lot of trees getting lit up as the sun rose above the mountains behind the trees. The slope seemed to catch on fire with the bright leaves burning in the morning sun. Didn’t want to photograph just a bunch of random trees, I scanned the lake side looking for interesting compositions.

I found this group of aspens forming a flame-like pattern. Knowing that a “proper exposure” would produce a flat and washed out image, I under exposed my shots to get the highlights to really pop against a dark background. I am not comfortable with the whole “expose to the right ” theory quite yet. Being a computer science major, I totally get why it makes sense to “expose to the right”, but having a washed out RAW image and having to dial back the exposure to obtain a more “correct” exposure later during post processing seems unnatural for me. I still tend to under expose my shots to keep my highlights in check. For what I typically shoot, shadow details aren’t that important to me. As long as I get my highlights the way I want, I’d be contented to let the shadows fall where they may.

I had a productive morning in Bishop Creek Canyon. After the light became too harsh, I went back to town to pick up Mrs Photofool (she rarely wakes up early for my sunrise shoots). We then drove up the mountains and spent the next few hours enjoying Autumn colors flowing down various creeks and streams. Well before sunset time, we left for Little Lakes Valley to scout for potential locations for my next sunrise shoot.

A lone fisherman on Lake Sabrina during the early morning hours in the Eastern Sierra.

There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast. — Charles Dickens

While I like the color version of this fisherman on Lake Sabrina photo, it’s too idyllic for my current mood. After a B&W conversion pass, I increased black level and burned in part of the sky and water to create enough negative space encompassing the mountain range and its reflection. Those deep shadows further isolate the lone fisherman waiting to be bathed the warm morning sun.

The color version looks familiar? I shot it a few minutes before I took The Old Man and The Lake

He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. — excerpt from The Old Man and The Sea, Earnest Hemingway

There are a couple more photos from North Lake that I like, but this is my most favorite shot from my trip. After the light became a little too harsh on North Lake, I left for Lake Sabrina. I was a little disappointed not to see much of fall colors, but as soon as I saw this lone fisherman, I knew that I had a memorable photo waiting to be taken.