Still Waters - Lake Sabrina, Bishop, California

On my recent trip to the Eastern Sierras, I was not prepared for so many beautiful mountain lakes that I was going to visit and shoot. I should have anticipated that, as beautiful mountain ranges have their fair share of pristine mountain lakes. One of the things I learned was that this whole area of eastern California is a mecca for fisherman. This particular lake was man-made, created in 1908 by the damming up of the middle fork of Bishop Creek. The lake was named after the wife of C.M. Hobbs, who was the first General Manager of the California Nevada Power Company that built the dam. Regardless of its origin, the lake is a beautiful spot to photograph. A little tidbit is that Apple's newest operating system, High Sierra, has Lake Sabrina as its wallpaper.

When we first got to the lakes, we saw a small marina and walked along the length of the dam to get some decent angles of the lake. The water was quite rough and getting a reflection was almost impossible. As I walked back toward the marina, I noticed Mike Louthan shooting boats in the marina and went to join him. As I was setting up, I heard some voices above me that surprised me as the terrain was a bit rocky. I headed back out and discovered a small, unmarked trail that took the "high road". Walking down the trail, I discovered this scene with an island surrounded by these small boats. The water had become still in this part of the lake and the sun had risen high enough to light up our side of the lake. I heard a noise below me and saw Bobby Strader where I had stood only minutes before. I told him about the trail but, since we were running out of time, he played mountain man and scaled the rocky incline.