2006: First place, 82%

Mark Stuecheli, Kansas City: Tufa in Mono Lake
Meyer Domiplan 2.8/50 on VX1000 Version 1, No 1142803,
with polarising filter;
exposed at f/8 1/250th on Fujicolor Superia 200

Mark writes: Mono Lake is located near Lee Vining in California, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Owens Valley. That's the valley that Los Angeles bought the water rights from in the 1940s and just about sucked dry until forced to reduce its rate of water withdrawal. Mono Lake has no outlet and therefore has a high mineral content that is three times more saline than the ocean. The formation in the pool is tufa, mineral deposits that were formed over time in a chemical reaction between fresh-water springs seeping from underground into the lake and the mineral-rich lake water. As the water level dropped, the formation was exposed. The shooting experience was very special except for having to walk through a thick layer of black flies that congregated on the shoreline.
    I didn't have a polarising filter to suit the Domiplan, so I hand-held it in front of the lens!

Any blemishes on this image are the result of the scanning process
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