Mono Lake in California, USA, has some pretty incredible tufa formations. I'm not going to go into detail about the tufas or the lake but if you want to know more info, please check out these links: About Mono Lake and About Mono Lake's Tufas.
This top photo is an entry for @czechglobalhosts 7 World’s Continents Photo Challenge - North American Friday week #33. More about that contest can be found HERE.
The above photo was shot at sunset in May of 2010 on a Canon 5D Mark II with a 24-105mm lens set at 24mm. The ISO was 50, the aperture was f20, in order to maintain a good depth of field, and the shutter speed needed to be 2.5 seconds with those other settings. I believe a graduated neutral density filter was used, but to be honest, I don't remember as I shot it eight years ago. I was only there for one afternoon/evening so I got incredibly lucky with a colorful sunset.
Below is what the tufas look like during the daytime. While out there photographing the tufas, I saw another photographer try to climb one of them to get a better angle for his shot. A large chunk of the tufa broke off when he did this. Don't be that guy... What an asshat!
This is what the tufas looks like up close. They have a pretty cool texture to them. However, they are not that solid so again, if you ever go to Mono Lake, please don't try to climb them.
Thank you for looking and reading!
Scott Thompson
Scott Shots Photography
