On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
We saw North Lake to start of the fall color in the Sierra, but there’s also a South Lake. So after my visit to Lake Sabrina, I headed back down the canyon to the turn off on to the road that heads to South Lake. This route is a bit less traveled than the road up to Lake Sabrina, mainly used by hikers that use the trailhead at South Lake to head to Bishop Pass.
About 50 years ago, I was one of those hikers that started off at South Lake and headed up to the lakes above it. After taking a few shots in the lake bed, I hiked up the trail a bit to see some of the color along the trail. One of my favorite shots was taken from the edge of the parking lot of the road heading back down the canyon to the main highway.
I wish I’d included more of the sky in the shot, but I’m quite happy with it. There is also a waterfall, Mist Falls, on the road to South Lake and I stopped to get some shots of the falls. The majority of these shots(3, 4, 5, 7, and 8) I’ve used software(Boris F/X Optics) to emulate cinematic film stock(in most cases, I used Eastman Daylight film emulation), I really liked the color it brought to the shots.
All of the shots(over 1150) that I’ve posted here at ‘On The Road’ are available for purchase at my site(https://www.billinglendaleca.com/Galleries/On-The-Road, they make excellent gifts. My main site page is at https://www.billinglendaleca.com/ or can be accessed by clicking on my nym. There you can view and have the opportunity to purchase prints of additional shots that may have not appeared on these pages, you can also join my Patreon there to help support my work on an on going basis or there are also links for one time donations.
Next set will have California glaciers!
Looking southwest lengthwise across South Lake to the pine forest with bits of color among them. The peaks of the eastern Sierra loom in the background.
Looking though the aspens along the side of the Bishop Pass trail, you can see the waters of South Lake with some nice color on the opposing shore.
The trail is lined with aspens.
The lake level was quite low and the only snow in the Sierra is a small patch at the upper left.
This is my favorite shot of the trip to South Lake and I almost didn’t shoot it. It’s from the parking lot and I just walked over to the end and snapped a photo. I wish I’d captured more of the sky.
I shot this using a neutral density filter to get a longer exposure to give the water a more silky look.
Looking though a grove of aspen and on to the Owens Valley.
This shot was actually taken a week after the previous seven. When I first stopped at Mist Falls, the color wasn’t far enough along for what I thought would be a good shot, so I returned a week later. This shot is composed of multiple exposures to give the falls an appearance of having more water.
Baud
Gorgeous.
OzarkHillbilly
Nice.
Rusty
Thank you for including the steps you took on how you took the pictures, such as exposure length and multiple exposures to enhance water effects. Intriguing that there are applications to emulate various films. Each film (and each person) has there own kind of optical color balance. Makes you realize there is no “true” reproduction. I was just reading an article on the site Real Life about how earlier Kodak color film was optimized to reproduce white faces, and did a poor job with black faces and other racial skin tones. It wasn’t until companies selling chocolate and wood furniture pushed Kodak to improve the color reproduction for there sales literature that good reproduction of these darker tones improved.
Betty
Your favorite is my favorite. I like the contrast between the road, the nearby trees and the distant landscape.
cope
Wonderful pictures as always, thanks.
I disagree about your favorite shot. More sky would mean less road and to me, that freshly surfaced and painted road and the red plow markers are what make it.
Thanks again.
HinTN
The aspens just burst out of that first shot. All wonderful but that’s my favorite. Happy Hollandaise, as your California neighbor would say.
Denali
Beautiful photos-brings back memories of our camping days.
stinger
Eye-popping! Really wakes me up this morning!
UncleEbeneezer
Awesome pictures. Never done it, but the South/North Lake loop is supposed to be one of the most spectacular hikes in the Sierra. Takes about 5 days if I remember correctly and goes into Sequoia/King’sCanyon.
BigJimSlade
Lovely shots! One of these days I’ll make it up to that area in the Fall.
I’m trying to make heads or tails of where that creek is coming from for Mist Falls. Maybe it comes from the trees to the right?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Thanks, happy to see you back.
@OzarkHillbilly: I think the drives up were worth it for the fall color, though we do get some closer to home.
@Rusty: I’m always like to say a bit how I captured the shot, but not too much that induce sleep in my audience(heh!). I’ve long enjoyed playing with different film looks.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty: I really liked the curvy freshly paved road leading away from the camera.
@cope: I agree that I wouldn’t want to lose those elements in the foreground, but it was cropped(bottom/left) in post so I did have some room when shooting.
@HinTN: Thanks, glad you like it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@stinger: Wait until you see the fall color and glaciers.
@UncleEbeneezer: Once you head over the passes, you’re in the National Parks. That would be quite a hike.
@Denali: Thanks, brought back memories of some of my camping/hiking days.
@BigJimSlade: I put off heading up there, last year due to the smoke. I’ve had the same question about the water source for the falls and I can’t find it either.
BigJimSlade
@?BillinGlendaleCA: lol! A spring maybe? My gut still says to follow the trees, though they also go down a slope on the right – I mean, it seems to come out of something that slopes off on both sides!
mvr
Thanks! Nice colors all around.
Jim Appleton
Nice.
This is on the south side of the peaks in your first pic. Whitney is one of the peaks in the distance.
Jim Appleton
I spent lots of time in the area you’ve recently covered — Bridgeport to Owens Valley. I nearly married a famous photographer’s granddaughter at the Mono Inn, another story. I think I’ve photographed all the places you are interested in, but with a different focus and I’m pleased with yours.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@BigJimSlade: I was thinking it might be a spring, but didn’t see anything on the topo map for the area, tis a mystery.
@mvr: Glad you like’m.
@Jim Appleton: West of the Palisades?
@Jim Appleton: Thanks much.