The Salt Tree

Willie and I have spent this summer going to the same few salt ponds over and over and over again. It's to the point where Sammi exclaims "you're going *AGAIN*?!" What keeps us going back is how the scene changes, both over time and due to different lighting conditions. Our first trip to the ponds had and beautiful sunset sky, in which the water in the streams reflected the beautiful red light. The next time we went was foggy and the light was flat. Then we went at sunrise on a clear morning and the entire scene glowed orange while the sun was at a low angle. The different salt ponds also have different colors, due to the varying salinity in the water and the algae that can live in it. As time goes the water level drops and the colors of the streams change as different algae is able to survive ... or the stream dries up completely. On this particular evening we found a pond that had beautiful yellow streams and on a clear night, the dry salt pond picked up the colors of the setting sun beautifully. I loved how that golden glow reflecting off the salt crystals matched the orange glow of the algae filled stream. In this photo the top of the stream has completely dried up, leaving behind ... salt, which looks like the leaves of a tree! DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec, ISO 100

Bay Bend

One of the reasons why Willie and I keep going back to the salt ponds with our drones is that we keep finding new scenes to explore. As we return with different lighting conditions we'll explore both new and old scenes to see how they've changed. And as the weeks progress, the ponds drain water and new shapes and compositions are created. We found this particular patch of drying stream when we explored a different area of the park. This was right near our new launch-zone and both of us spent some time exploring the different angles that this bend in the river created. I liked this particular spot because it had a combination of so many things: a curving stream, white salt, some vegetation, salt shapes, and different colors of plant-life. Particularly I loved how the red plants popped out and matched the orange glow that the salt flats picked up. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO 100