Uploads from Ivan Sohrakoff, tagged snow

Kit Carson's Dreams: Hope Valley, California

nobody@flickr.com (Ivan Sohrakoff) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:14:20 -0800

Not too far from Carson Pass, I was lucky enough to catch a pink sky over the West Fork of the Carson River in Hope Valley on this cold early-winter-late-fall morning. Frost lined the banks and the first snow of the year topped the peaks.

I chose this small north-south flowing section of the river to get the pink glow of the sky in my frame before sunrise. It didn't last more than a minute with this much color, so this is one of the few exposures with any pink in the sky. Every now and then, if you photograph enough sunsets or sunrises, you luck out with an elusive, engulfing, pink glow. This was one of those occasions for me.

Not quite sure if this represents what Kit Carson's dreams were like, but since he spent a lot of time in the area and guided the Frémont Epedition through the pass in 1844, I figured it was a good guess.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 24-105L @47mm
8 second exposure @ F16
Lee ND soft grad .9 filter
ISO 50

Fall Frost: Hope Valley, CA

nobody@flickr.com (Ivan Sohrakoff) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:37:34 -0700

Ivan Sohrakoff posted a photo:

More detail in the larger version.

My wife, my dog and I spent a night up in Hope Valley this past weekend, looking for some fall color. This late in the season, most of the aspen trees at this altitude (just over 7000 ft) had lost their color and many had lost their leaves, but it was still magnificent. There were plenty of colors still left here and there, so I opted to shoot on the valley floor and use the West fork of the Carson River in my foreground.

An early storm was just finishing up when we arrived, and a fresh dusting of snow was on Carson Pass and surrounding peaks. After a colorless evening shoot, I was hoping for a colorful sky and a dusting of snow for the morning. I did get a little color, but nothing I liked, so I focused my attention on the mountains to the west. The peak in front is Steven's Peak, and Carson Pass is in the background.

As I was looking up the names of these peaks, I realized that about twenty years ago, I went on a backpacking trip over these very mountains! I climbed Steven's Peak (with a full backpack) with a friend, and ended up in th very southern part of Lake Tahoe... a great backpacking trip.

I shot this panorama after the sun had illuminated Steven's Peak with a warm glow. I found a location that would allow me to to position the peak in the reflection of the river. There is actually a good layer of frost on all the grasses and valley floor in this shot, and I can say that I was definitely SLOW while taking photos due to my freezing fingers!

Thanks for visiting!

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 100-400L @100mm
6 vertical exposures stitched together
0.6 second exposures @ F16
Lee Soft .9 grad ND filter
ISO 50

Dunes Under Water: Sand Harbor, Lake Tahoe, Nevada

nobody@flickr.com (Ivan Sohrakoff) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:54:08 -0800

Ivan Sohrakoff posted a photo:

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Sand Harbor is a popular photography spot on the east shores of Lake Tahoe. This was my first visit here, and it was definitely worth it. I waded out into the shallow harbor and had a great time shooting the patterns in the sand and the rounded-over granite boulders.

The park charges $4 to park, and they close at 5pm, so this twilight hour is a bit inconvenient to shoot. We managed to push the envelope and stay until around 5:45 without any trouble from the rangers -or getting locked in.

I would have liked for the clouds to break up a bit, but alas, by cloud-busting technique didn't prove fruitful. So there you have it, some sand patterns, a cooperative rock, and an uncooperative cloud mass.

Flickr Explore #217

This is one single image, no HDR treatment.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @17mm
13 second exposure @F16
Lee soft ND grad .9 + .75 filters
ISO 50

Frigid Granite: Lake Tahoe, Nevada

nobody@flickr.com (Ivan Sohrakoff) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:37:33 -0800

Ivan Sohrakoff posted a photo:

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After a semi-strenuous hike through the snow getting down to Bonsai Rock (the wrong way), we had a short period with some good light for photography. I was wearing neoprene waders, so even though it was freezing out, I was "hotter than a snake's ass in a wagon rut" in those things! It kinda felt good to get into the icy-cold Lake Tahoe! I looked pretty awesome too, as my waders have camo on one side. After all, I was hunting, -hunting granite rocks.

Since the sunset was blocked by the incoming storm, I focused on the lake bottom and large granite boulders surrounding me, and less on the sky itself. This rock grabbed my attention because the melting snow had frozen into an icicle. How can you resist an icicle shot, I ask you, how?

This is one single image, no HDR treatment.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @32mm
4 second exposure @F18
Lee soft ND grad .9 + .75 filters
ISO 50

Winter on Bonsai Rock: Lake Tahoe, Nevada

nobody@flickr.com (Ivan Sohrakoff) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:43:43 -0800

Ivan Sohrakoff posted a photo:

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Explore #164, Jan 24 (hey, it's my first time on the Explore page...!)

I took a weekend ski trip up to Tahoe with some friends, and two of us headed out to find Bonsai Rock for some evening photography. I had first learned of this location by viewing a photo by Jim Patterson, and then got some additional location tips from Rich Capture (thanks Rich!).

I debated whether or not I should post this, since it is such a similar comp to many other shots out there. My intention isn't to steal anyone's shot or composition. This is just an amazing spot, and this most recent snow changed things up enough to get something a little different. I was also waist-deep in the water for this shot -I brought my waders for this one.

Here's the thing... snow changes everything. Where you think the trail might be, it isn't. Even if you know someone who put bright orange flags out as markers, you will still get lost... or at least we did! We ended up parking, imagining a trail, and then traversing way too much steep, Tahoe shoreline (in knee-to-waist-deep snow). Then we saw Bonsai Rock, another 200 yards away... sheesh!

The sunset was just so-so, but we managed to fire off a few before the weather turned. You can see the snowstorm coming towards us in this photo. About 10 minutes after this shot, we were engulfed in snow. The hike back up was a bit easier, since we were starting from the endpoint this time!

This is one single image, no HDR.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @17mm
3.2 second exposure @F22
Lee soft ND grad .9 + .75 filters
ISO 50

Sand Harbor Spit: Lake Tahoe, Nevada

nobody@flickr.com (Ivan Sohrakoff) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:25:36 -0800

Ivan Sohrakoff posted a photo:

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I'm not really sure if this is called a "spit", but it seems that if Sand Harbor had a spit, this would surely be it. Wait, was that a rap I just wrote?!

Being that it was my first time to Sand Harbor, I didn't really know what the lay of the land was like. I scrambled around snow-laden boulders with that oh so familiar feeling of being rushed by the setting sun. I was all over the place, but tried not to mess up the perfect snow that was visible from the wooden walkway. I did mess some up around the edges, but I'm not really sure of the etiquette here.

Do you not mess up the beautiful snow so the other non-photographer people have a great view from the trail, or do you just go for it? This time, I was diplomatic about it. Let me know your opinion on this one...

I might have turned the .75 ND grad upside down on this shot, but I can't remember. That snow really can get blown out quite easily.

This is one single image, no HDR treatment.

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @17mm
0.6 second exposure @F16
Lee soft ND grad .9 + .75 filters
ISO 50