Long exposure of Lake Edison at night from Vermilion Valley Resort, mountains mirrored in still water.

Edison Blue

Lake Thomas A. Edison, Sierra National Forest, California

The dark end of the beach at VVR on my zero day, two and a half seconds of exposure at 35mm. A reservoir is not a wild lake and I did not try to pretend otherwise — the flatness, the strange stillness of managed water, is its own subject. After twelve days of alpine drama there was something restful about photographing a horizontal line and going to bed full of burger.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 35mm · f/2.8 · 2.5s · ISO 250

July 12, 2025

Back to JMT

More from Lake Thomas A. Edison, Sierra National Forest, California

Black and white photo aboard the Edison Queen ferry crossing Lake Edison, Captain Paint at the helm on the left.Black and white photo of backpackers riding the morning ferry across Lake Edison back to the John Muir Trail.

More from JMT

Sunset light over the waterfall at Evolution Lake’s outlet in Evolution Basin, Kings Canyon National Park.Marie Lake’s island-dotted blue water from the Selden Pass trail at midday, John Muir Wilderness.A backpacker climbing through sunlit lodgepole forest above Mono Creek toward Silver Pass.Black and white photo of a backpacker standing above Lake Virginia watching the evening light develop.