The green shoreline waters make Lake Tahoe famous, but they are a challenge to photograph. Landscape photography is typically performed during the “golden hour” - an hour around sunrise or sunset, when the sun is low. Though this light creates deep contrasting warm orange alpenglow on distant mountains, the water of Lake Tahoe will be uninteresting. A high sun will bring out the beautiful hues in the water, but the overhead light ruins interesting shadows on any distant views. I needed a high enough sun to bring out the deep green color but not so high as to completely wash out the mountains. I scouted and scouted along the shoreline between Sand Harbor State Park and Incline Village looking for the best composition. When I found the perfect spot, I chose a wide angle lens to exaggerate the nearby green water and draw less attention to the distant mountains.
