Lenticular clouds over the Sierra crest at dawn, seen from high on Mount Whitney above the Great Western Divide.

Lenticulars at First Light

Mount Whitney, California

The colour before sunrise is the good material up here — cool, soft, and finished the instant direct light touches the ridges. Lenticulars mean serious wind aloft, which is bad news for a climb and excellent news for a photograph. Sixty-three millimetres tightened it to the layers I wanted: dark ridge across the bottom, the crest still in shadow, and the whole sky working above it.

Nikon Z 7_2 · NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S · 63mm · f/7.1 · 1/160 · ISO 500

July 20, 2026

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