Amateur photography is most often a record of "been there and done that." Later it may become a reason for reflection. A short trip to Mono Lake in the late autumn of 1998 was a surprise to both Lumi and I. While I had heard much about the exposed rock formation due to the diversion of water to Los Angeles, I was not prepared for the true impact of this area.- Nov. 16, 1998

Mono Lake is nearly round and over five miles across in most directions. I was moved by the emptiness of the lake surface and the expansion of the country to the far horizon.

The expanse of the land was matched by the expanse of the sky. Air cooled as it pushed over the Sierras formed the clouds that gradually faded as the moved on to the eastern deserts.

Before this trip I did not know what tufa really was, nor the myriad formations that it could make. Just the effect of one water bubbling up through another. But what it left behind is something different.

I thought that I should possibly thank the City of Los Angeles for lowering the lake to the point where this photographh became possible. In 1941, the lake would have covered almost all of this formation and the point where I stood would have been under water. I think a lot about how we unknowingly change nature one way and then question whether we know enough to put it back as we think it had once been.