Water
Emerald Bay Blue Hour
Happy New Year everyone! What a crazy year 2020 was. Here’s to looking forward to beautiful things in the coming year.
It’s been awhile since I posted here. But my energy has been renewed and I hope to rekindle this blog post in the coming months. The photo above was taken early morning in August 2020. I was looking for shooting stars and as usual, they would shoot pass me where the camera wasn’t pointing. I was going to pack it up and call it but in the distance, the glow of the rising sun towards the East called me to stay a bit longer. The results, this pano of Emerald Bay during blue hour.
enjoy!
Ripples and snow along the Carson
An easy spot to get to from the junction where highway 88 & 89 meet in Hope Valley. There’s a small parking lot and you walk along a path towards the river. It’s pretty quite except for the occasional sounds of a car or truck on the highway. You come to a bridge and the Carson River follows under it. The late afternoon sun lights up the recent snows and the ripples of the water.
Merced River views
Drove into Yosemite Valley last weekend for a quick overnight stay. Played tourist and walked and drove to all the well known spots. This view from the Merced River looking towards El Captain never disappoints me.
McGee Creek
Went looking for fall color this weekend and ended up at McGee Creek near Bishop. Most of the trees had already dropped their leaves this far south in the Sierras. Found a cool little spot by the creek and did some long exposures.
Fall in Hope Valley
First fall hike of the year. Went to Hope Valley to look for fall colors but we were stopped by the water flowing in the river. That’s Pickett Peak in the background.
Moon sets
Last week, I scrambled down to the East shore of Lake Tahoe to a spot known as Bonsai Rock. While I was taking photos, I noticed the setting moon nicely centered from my spot on the shore. I used my headlamp to brighten the water below me and the boulders in the water. 
Beach with a view
One of my favorite places in the Tahoe area is Kiva Beach. It’s a long strip of sandy beach front that you can bring your dog to. It has amazing views of Lake Tahoe and Mt Tallac. On this morning, I walked as far as I could go and got down low to catch the flow of the river as it moved into the lake. Mt Tallac can be seen in the distance.
Morning contrasts
I missed a week of posts because I was out backpacking with friends. It’s was great to get outside and unplug from the world around us. On this particular morning I was up early and wandering around our campsite and was able to capture these plays on light and color. 
Snapshots by Kats 