Backside of Mono Lake Area
I completed the Eastern Sierra Double Century yesterday. While I was out of the running due to tire/wheel problems (bad glue job by local bike shop that decentered the tire, causing rubbing on the chainstay and eventual blowout), I finished using my 2nd spare tire.
Normally I am totally focused on the ride, but this time given that I was totally out of the running, I stopped to shoot a few panos later in the day, these shots being on Hwy 120 east of Yosemite and south of Mono Lake. It is worth a photographer’s look-see for the stark landscape, with some burn areas (very interesting with strafing light), developing carpets of hot pink flowers, and wide-open vistas.
Most images that follow taken with the iPhone 7 Plus in panorama mode. The iPhone in pano mode is by far the best camera choice for this type of shooting—even off a bike—because one can capture a very wide range of image widths at very good quality up to 17000 pixels wide or so. Downsampled to 50% to 75% linearly, the quality is strong (in pano mode only, still photo mode ranges from marginal to garbage depending on lighting). See iPhone Panoramas In Depth: Shooting & Post Processing Tips, Numerous Examples up to 11K Resolution.
Bright pink flowers are starting to develop from the low-growing green plants in the volcanic soil. Some good flower carpets are starting to appear. Mark C writes that “Perhaps these: Bigelow’s monkeyflower. I’ve seen lots of these around this time of year along Hwy 120. Plenty of other possibilities, of course.”.
Heading towards Benton at about mile 140, with the White Mountains (Inyo range) visible in the distance.