Emerald Bay Zen

I had envisioned this image for quite some time, but I had to wait for the atmospheric conditions to be just right. We don't get much fog here in Tahoe, so to create the mood I was hoping for meant braving blizzard conditions. As a storm rolled in, I headed out with my 8x10 film camera. In order to frame Fannette Island with the upper branches I had to stand on a pile of snow. I was just able to see through the ground glass with the camera mounted as high as it could be on the tripod. Fortunately, I was able to compose a 4x10 inch panoramic with the upper portion of the ground glass. I love the spiritual feel of this image. This is Emerald Bay in winter.