Jud Dagnall Photography Blog

Micah was definitely able to coax some smiles out of “serious zoe” with a little of his usual humor and daddy silliness.

Zoe got a little wet playing the the water at the beach, and her dad got her a new warm and dry hoody. She had such an adult look of concentration as she examined the world around her.

Bodhi was doing a little tree-climbing in the palm trees by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, but he didn’t mind standing still for just a bit on his way up the tree.

We walked along the edge of the water near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This is the beach where Micah and I met many years ago, long before either of us had families of our own.

Bodhi and Zoe are both so wonderfully photogenic, and were very willing to pose a bit here and there as we walked along the Santa Cruz Wharf.

Just to change things up a bit, I’m going to post some images from recent (or not so recent) portrait sessions.

This image was one of many that I created in a relaxed family portrait session at and near the beach in Santa Cruz.

Another image from my Christmas 2006 trip. Mono Lake often has a very unique layer of blue that forms between the pink clouds just above the horizon at sunset. The rising water level can clearly be seen in this image as compared to 2004 This image was taken at Castle Tufa, near Navy Beach at the South Tufa Reserve in Mono Lake

Someone asked to see a comparison image to see how much the water level has risen. Here’s an image from September 2004 taken near the same location as the previous post. Note that this image was taken to the left of the other image, so although the largest tufa haven’t been submerged, the biggest differences can be seen near the top left.

The water level has risen by several feet since this image was create, making it impossible to walk up to the larger Castle Tufa formation, and covering many of the smaller tufa on the left that I named the Tufa Garden. Another view of this spot can be seen at http://dagnallphoto.com/art?gallery=mono_lake&id=9

Castle Tufa is located near Navy Beach at the Mono Lake South Tufa reserve.

This image clearly shows how much the lake level has risen since the first time I was here. The smaller tufa formation on the left has its flat base completely submerged. Castle Tufa is near Navy Beach at Mono Lake’s South Tufa Reserve.

Taken near Navy Beach and the South Tufa at Mono Lake.

This image was created on Highway 120 on the way back from the Mono Lake South Tufa.

After the sun set, there were a few minutes of gorgeous color. This image was also taken near Castle Tufa at the Mono Lake South Tufa Reserve.

Sand tufa is smaller, more delicate tufa. This “grove” is located on the way to Castle Tufa at Navy Beach (part of the South Tufa Preserve) at Mono Lake.

My second image from Mono Lake. This was taken near the South Tufa just after daybreak:

Magda and I returned to Mono Lake for another Christmas trip. It was a mellow trip, with varied weather. However, I did get some exciting images that I’ll be posting over the next few days. Here’s the first of the set: