Lake Tahoe is a place that my wife and I have wanted to visit for a long time. We had a small window of opportunity recently due to life circumstances and some very kind people who let us use their house to finally make the trip. We only had a couple full days and the purpose of this trip was not photography, but I did manage to make it to a few locations that made for some nice photos.
Almost all of these were taken with a Fujifilm XT-2 and 10-24mm lens. I will try to point out where other gear was used.
On our first night, we were treated to a spectacular sunset while on a dinner cruise. Tahoe doesn't get clouds like this very often, so, it really was a special moment.
We did some kayaking at Emerald Bay and explored the only island in the Lake, Fannette Island. The island contains the ruins of the old "Tea House" that was constructed by Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight in 1928 to go with her vacation home, Vikingsholm.
On our last night, we found Secret Cove. Secret Cove does not have a parking lot and isn't easy to find. It's at the bottom of a steep decline that's at least a mile and not well marked. I had heard that the cove was a "clothing optional" area, but hoped that by this time in the evening, it might be clear or at least the people would be covered. We were wrong, and immediately upon finding Secret Cove, were greeted with all the glory and "bits and pieces" of its inhabitants. The light was nice, And I would've liked to have photographed the cove at this time, but didn't think it would be appropriate to walk around shooting while people were hanging around in their natural state.
We hiked up the rocky shore a ways, until we were alone and still found a nice location for sunset. I used a circular polarizing filter for these to try and bring out the rocks under the water's surface.
After the sun, set, we hiked back over to Secret Cove where there was only one man left. He was clothed and on his way out. We spoke for a few minutes about the amazing sunset the night before with the rare cloud covered sky and about all of the wildlife he has seen in the cove over the 40 years he has been going there, including the bears!
It's hard to tell from some of these pictures, but the sun was down and it was dark. I used a tripod for the first time this trip to get the exposure I wanted.
Lake Tahoe is a special place that can be as relaxing or as adventurous as you want. The lake provides the space and serenity for a person to contemplate, consider, and refresh themselves, which is what we did. It feels like we're closer to God in places like this.