"Portal to the Earth's Shadow"

While I have spent time near Mono Lake, I have never photographed this photogenic icon. For one, I actually don't think of it as a beautiful place. Otherworldly, perhaps, but not on my list of tranquil and serene places. Just after finishing my shoot at Conway Summit, we headed dow the long hill. I couldn't help but notice the radiant reflection on the lake surface. It was glowing noticeably, but my daughter was not in the mood for more picture taking, so I continued without stopping. Suddenly, this shoreline revealed itself as we approached the bottom of the hill and I couldn't resist. I was most intrigued by the bands of color across the surface and the amount of color that was occurring. After all, the sun had long since set and it was behind us, so why would this scene be so vivid. The blue band across the horizon is the Earth's shadow, a common sight during sunset at this elevation of over 7,000 feet. This is a long telephoto shot, so it has compressed the pink band just above the shadow, making it appear to be rather large, when in fact it looked quite normal to the eye. I've included this in my Fall Foliage folder because it was taken during a foliage endeavor. I think it is also appropriate because as the sun passes the equinox, it's lower angle produces more color at sunset. That's why the best sunsets are typically in the winter months. Well, winter is on the way, but hopefully not before I get out one more time this fall!!

Not necessarily every photograph sees the place lay out as some one else might see it and make a good use of it, well, you did for sure and brought out the best out of this place, the light is remarkable and so the DOF is very effective and the details obtained are so fine all over the frame work while the colors are the real magic of this image and its also the means of promoting it to a level of very high quality.

Thank you for sharing it and wishing you all of the best.

Mark... Tranquil and serene for sure, but I lean towards surreal.  It's like the set from a Mars movie... Something a little different from you and well done... Mike

No sign of life and a hauntingly eerie light, especially that layer of pink in the sky.  It almost has an extraterrestrial look to it.  Nice that you could find something of interest in what looks to be a rather barren place (I've never been there).   Great work, Mark.  Hope all is well with you and your family.