A foggy sunrise at Lake Dumbleyung gave some near-perfect reflections, making up for the heartache from the previous night!

Lake Dumbleyung is a small salt lake that is famous for being the location where Donald Campbell set the world water-speed record on the last day of 1964, making him the only person to achieve both the land and water speed-records in the same year. It also happens to be a fun place to shoot! The water level in the lake rises and falls with the seasons - sometimes you can walk across its middle on dry land, while other years brings the water level up to the edges of the banks. Due to the salinity of the water, the lake is ringed by long-deceased trees, which cling to the muddy salt flats as ghostly shells.

This year the water level was a little bit lower, meaning the water level was down but not dramatically so. I had travelled down to shoot some nightscape photos, as the weather forecast showed no wind, and I wanted to shoot some reflected star trails. Thus, once the moon had set I began shooting only for aforementioned weather conditions to sabotage my efforts entirely. I noticed that the stars began disappearing slowly off the horizon, and within 10 minutes a thick bank of fog had rolled over the lake and I had to give up for the night. The fog was still very much present in the morning - as were the reflections - so I trudged back down to the lake in my gumboots and enjoyed shooting some photos in the pre-dawn mist.

When the sun had risen, the fog began to lighten, and I had plodded out into the shallow water where two distinct trees sit further out from the shore of the lake. The ripples from my footsteps dispersed, and the sun gave colour to the mist while the distant horizon was still hidden from my view.

This photo was a single exposure that I cut down to a 3:1 panorama. I don't know why I love this photo as much as I do - it's certainly not a dramatic scene or one that explodes with colour - it just seems so surreal and unreal at the same time. It was a moment of stillness and isolation that I loved, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to capture it.

[ToddK]

Very nice! I really like the smooth transition across the frame from the warm yellow colors on the left to the cool blues on the right, and the stark trees have perfect reflections.

[angkymac]

A very fine photo indeed!
If for no other reason, it is a rare instance when one can find conditions like this!
But its composition and subtle colors demand attention and contemplation.
Angky.

[MikeNArk]

Thanks for providing all the background information concerning the site and your experiences. That is an incredible shot showing the changes in the environment that occurred while you were there. Great transition image and reflection shot in one photo. I agree it is surreal.

[indanon]

A foggy sunrise at Lake Dumbleyung gave some near-perfect reflections, making up for the heartache from the previous night!

Lake Dumbleyung is a small salt lake that is famous for being the location where Donald Campbell set the world water-speed record on the last day of 1964, making him the only person to achieve both the land and water speed-records in the same year. It also happens to be a fun place to shoot! The water level in the lake rises and falls with the seasons - sometimes you can walk across its middle on dry land, while other years brings the water level up to the edges of the banks. Due to the salinity of the water, the lake is ringed by long-deceased trees, which cling to the muddy salt flats as ghostly shells.

This year the water level was a little bit lower, meaning the water level was down but not dramatically so. I had travelled down to shoot some nightscape photos, as the weather forecast showed no wind, and I wanted to shoot some reflected star trails. Thus, once the moon had set I began shooting only for aforementioned weather conditions to sabotage my efforts entirely. I noticed that the stars began disappearing slowly off the horizon, and within 10 minutes a thick bank of fog had rolled over the lake and I had to give up for the night. The fog was still very much present in the morning - as were the reflections - so I trudged back down to the lake in my gumboots and enjoyed shooting some photos in the pre-dawn mist.

When the sun had risen, the fog began to lighten, and I had plodded out into the shallow water where two distinct trees sit further out from the shore of the lake. The ripples from my footsteps dispersed, and the sun gave colour to the mist while the distant horizon was still hidden from my view.

This photo was a single exposure that I cut down to a 3:1 panorama. I don't know why I love this photo as much as I do - it's certainly not a dramatic scene or one that explodes with colour - it just seems so surreal and unreal at the same time. It was a moment of stillness and isolation that I loved, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to capture it.

Fine Art at its best !

[joip]

A foggy sunrise at Lake Dumbleyung gave some near-perfect reflections, making up for the heartache from the previous night!

Lake Dumbleyung is a small salt lake that is famous for being the location where Donald Campbell set the world water-speed record on the last day of 1964, making him the only person to achieve both the land and water speed-records in the same year. It also happens to be a fun place to shoot! The water level in the lake rises and falls with the seasons - sometimes you can walk across its middle on dry land, while other years brings the water level up to the edges of the banks. Due to the salinity of the water, the lake is ringed by long-deceased trees, which cling to the muddy salt flats as ghostly shells.

This year the water level was a little bit lower, meaning the water level was down but not dramatically so. I had travelled down to shoot some nightscape photos, as the weather forecast showed no wind, and I wanted to shoot some reflected star trails. Thus, once the moon had set I began shooting only for aforementioned weather conditions to sabotage my efforts entirely. I noticed that the stars began disappearing slowly off the horizon, and within 10 minutes a thick bank of fog had rolled over the lake and I had to give up for the night. The fog was still very much present in the morning - as were the reflections - so I trudged back down to the lake in my gumboots and enjoyed shooting some photos in the pre-dawn mist.

When the sun had risen, the fog began to lighten, and I had plodded out into the shallow water where two distinct trees sit further out from the shore of the lake. The ripples from my footsteps dispersed, and the sun gave colour to the mist while the distant horizon was still hidden from my view.

This photo was a single exposure that I cut down to a 3:1 panorama. I don't know why I love this photo as much as I do - it's certainly not a dramatic scene or one that explodes with colour - it just seems so surreal and unreal at the same time. It was a moment of stillness and isolation that I loved, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to capture it.

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