The workshop is ‘in the can.’ We finished up yesterday with a Mono Lake South Tufa sunrise followed by the rest of the morning in Bodie.
There weren’t any clouds but the sunrise was bright red (“Red sky in morning….” but it didn’t pan out). Still, South Tufa is always fascinating. We explored some new places and found some new compositions. We also found a place where an underwater spring was welling up. The tufa building process continues. There were clouds of brine shrimp and alkali flies (in their respective environments). And amazingly, the flies were not a bother. They swarmed on the tufa right at the water’s edge and only flew when you disturbed them by moving too close. Discovering an active site was really very thrilling.
Unfortunately, the water level continues to drop as the drought continues. I’d estimate the water level is down a couple of feet from the time I first started shooting there about two and a half years ago. But the potentially good news is that yesterday the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center issued a forecast that an el nino is building and will last through next winter. We could use five years of el nino in California to replenish our nearly exhausted water reserves.
Bodiewas fascinating as usual. And although we were photographing in late morning light the subjects are still very interesting and the photography, exciting. There’s a temptation to rush around in an attempt to cover it all. But I prefer to slow down and absorb the spirit of the area. Oh, and we ran into David Muench and his workshop.
We were so busy the last days of the workshop that there wasn’t any time to even review our pictures much less get any ready to post. But that will come and soon. So stay tuned for more images.
You can check out my other photos on my website – http://RalphNordstromPhotography.com
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