About This Picture

This picture was taken from the Western shore of Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park in July, 2004, with a Canon 1Ds camera and a Canon 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens. The exposure was 30 seconds at f/18.

This picture, and its companion piece, Morning, Tenaya Lake, were years in the making. During the Winter, this area usually receives heavy snowfall. When the weather warms up as the season progresses, the lake thaws, the snow melts, and the water level rises. Then, as the warm weather continues into Summer, the water slowly evaporates, and the water level falls a fraction of an inch each day. As the water level falls along the gently undulating granite shoreline, the shape of the lake's edge changes each day. Each Summer, I came to Tenaya Lake's granite Western shores on many different days, examining the curves of the shore as they'd develop and disappear, looking for the most inspiring curves. As this one was developing, I knew I'd have to make a composition of it.

In the late afternoon/early evening, the time came for the daily ritual of going to the most open spot nearby, looking in every direction, noting the wind direction and cloud types, looking at my barometer's graph over the last 24 hours, and trying to make a good decision about which direction would have the best looking sunset sky, and where I should go to take advantage of it. On this day, clouds were building up to the East, and hazy clear skies seemed to be lingering in the West, so the conditions seemed to favor the spot I was hoping for, along a nicely developing curve on the Western shore of Tenaya Lake.

I went there and set up as I wanted, ankle deep in the warm water, cable release poised in hand, and waited for glorious light to come. At first I was feeling hopeful, because clouds now filled up most of the Eastern sky, ready to glow with sunset colors. I'd come there numerous other times before, hoping to finally get this shot, only to be foiled by unworkable conditions. After 20 minutes waiting, this time seemed to be shaping up to be another such case. The wind was making the water too choppy for any reflections. The sun went down in the west, and the light had stayed drab gray the entire time. Seemingly nothing was going well, when suddenly, fifteen minutes after the sun went down, the sky began to light up in shades of pink. (The best dusk colors often don't occur until well after the sun's gone down.) The water's chop quelled in the dying evening breeze enough for the reflection I needed, and I finally got the photo of my own vision of the elegant beauty of this iconic lake.