Tag: national

Mammoth Lakes (CA), Columnar Basalt, Lichen

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ISO100, 200mm, f/8, 1/13 sec
Devil’s Postpile National Monument, Mammoth Lakes, CA

I have the toughest of times creating a composition of the basalt columns at Devil’s Postpile. Even when I think I have captured a photograph well, it either ends up with too many elements resulting in far too busy of a photo or it ends up like all other photos you’ve seen before.

Once again, a possible solution is to focus in on specific elements and go from there. This is how we end up with a tight crop of those amazing columnar basalt posts with just enough green lime lichen to brighten up the brown rock.

EXIF data: Nikon D7000, center-weighted metering mode, ISO100, 200mm, f/8, 1/13 sec

Mammoth Lakes (CA), Columnar Basalt, Lichen.  Mammoth Lakes, CA. October 15, 2014. © Copyright Steven Tze – all rights reserved.

Mammoth Lakes (CA), Devil’s Postpile, Broken Columns Talus, Monochrome

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ISO100, 65mm, f/8, 1/4 sec
Devil’s Postpile National Monument, Mammoth Lakes, CA

Sometimes a location is visually amazing, yet impossibly difficult to capture effectively on camera.  Such was the geological phenomena known as Devil’s Postpile National Monument in the Eastern Sierras near Mammoth Lakes.

We had planned to stay in Mammoth as a sort of hotel base camp for various day trips between Lee Vining and Bishop. A few short hikes, attempts to see the fall colors, buying bakery goods at Schat’s Bakkery and looking at Galen Rowell’s photographs at his Mountain Light Gallery in Bishop. As we drove into Mammoth, the road sign noted the “Devil’s Postpile” was just ahead. I knew she had interest in volcanoes and geology, but never realized this was one of her bucket list locations. So before we knew it, we were driving down the steep decent into the national monument, hiking the half mile to the site, and soon enough scrambling at the tops of the columns looking down at the other visitors 150 feet below.

While the popular and oft photographed composition of the postpile is from ground-level looking up at the 200 feet wide face, the most interesting shots of this visit were the broken columns forming the talus (debris) pile at the base of the columns.

EXIF data: Nikon D7000, center-weighted metering mode, ISO100, 65mm, f/8, 1/4 sec

Mammoth Lakes (CA), Devil’s Postpile, Broken Columns Talus, Monochrome.  Mammoth Lakes, CA. October 15, 2014. © Copyright Steven Tze – all rights reserved.