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Three Rivers – Lake Kaweah

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When we go on nature trips, we try to stay at places that allow us to experience the nature. After all, why should nature exploration end when resting at the end of long hiking days? We were lucky enough to snag a cabin at the Lazy J Ranch in Three Rivers, which is roughly a 15-minute drive away from Sequoia National Park. One of the great things about this ranch was the location. The powerful Kaweah River flows right next to the ranch and feeds Lake Kaweah. The massive Lake Kaweah covers over 1,900 acres when it’s full, and has many recreation areas and great sights to see!

Kaweah River

The Kaweah River originates in the Great Western Divide, which is a subrange of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. These snowy peaks feed the Kaweah River, which flows through Sequoia National Park and into Lake Kaweah.

I heard the river when we arrived at the ranch at night. The next morning, one of our neighbors said that it was a quick 5-minute walk from our cabin. I wanted to get some darker shots before the sun rose above the mountains and headed out first thing in the morning with a couple of neutral density (ND) filters and a tripod to get this shot. After framing the shot, I wanted to get that silky effect of the river. I stacked both of my ND filters and lengthened my shutter speed to smooth over the water. I also wanted to brighten up the scene a bit and bumped up the exposure compensation to +1.0EV to expose to the right (ETTR).

Kaweah River feeding the lake
Shot at f/11, 30mm, ISO 200, 60sec, +1.0EV, ND8 + ND400 stacked filters

Slick Rock Recreation Area

Lake Kaweah has a lot of recreation areas, and Slick Rock was the closest to our cabin. I came here at sunset when the water was relatively calm and no one was around. I love these mirror effect shots and was happy to get it while smoothing over the water with a longer shutter speed.

Lake Kaweah at night
Shot at f/11, 12mm, ISO 200, 40sec

The Great Western Divide

On our way to Kaweah Recreation Area, we pulled over on the highway to get the following shot. Lake Kaweah was pretty full when we went since a heavy winter storm recently passed through. I love the hazy and snowy Great Western Divide in the background. Also, the leading lines formed by the lake going into the background adds quite a bit of depth to the photograph. I was deciding whether to include the boat in the frame, and decided to since it adds a scale and human element to the image.

Lake Kaweah and the Snowy Great Western Divide
Shot at f/11, 27mm, ISO 200, 1/125sec

Lake Kaweah Recreation Area

Once we arrived at the Lake Kaweah Recreation Area, we got away from everyone who was barbecuing and fishing. After a short walk, we found ourselves in secluded. Since my tripod has a removable center pole and the tripod legs can collapse outwards, I got my camera really close to the ground, which allowed me to change the perspective of my shots.

The fishing boats created waves in the water, so I used an ND400 filter to smooth it over. Lengthening shutter speed when shooting clear water creates a stained glass effect. There was quite a bit of wind that day, as is evidenced by the blurry plant in the foreground. However, I like how the shot was framed and decided not to crop it out. Since my camera was close to the ground, I stopped down to f/16 to get most of the scene in focus.

Glass effect at Lake Kaweah
Shot at f/16, 19mm, ISO 200, 40sec, +1.0EV, ND400 filter

The timing of our trip was perfect. The snow storm had passed a couple of weeks prior, and the wildflowers were starting to bloom. With the Superbloom coming, this was a great opportunity to practice photographing flowers in a field. Since there was quite a bit of wind, I used a fast shutter speed to freeze the flowers in place. I also wanted to produce some “bokeh”, so I opened up the aperture to f/2.8 to blur the background.

Wildflowers blooming at Lake Kaweah
Shot at f/2.8, 29mm, ISO 200, 1/3200sec

A Bit of History of Lake Kaweah

Lake Kaweah (pronounced “ga-we-hah”, meaning “crow” or “raven cry”) is a reservoir created by the Terminus Dam, which was built in 1962 to protect towns from flooding. In 1992 the dam was retrofitted for hydroelectric energy. The water levels of the lake actually fluctuate quite a bit during the year to protect the reservoir from overflowing.

The Native American tribe called Wukchumni (a sub-tribe of the Yokuts) settled around Kaweah River. The organization of milling stations suggests that they used these as a community to grind acorns to make cakes and pastes. These grinding stones can be viewed at the Kaweah Heritage Visitor Center. The majority of the rest of the settlements are now submerged under the lake.

Comments, conversations, feedback, and messages are always welcome!

References

“Great Western Divide”. Summit Post. Retrieved April 13th, 2018.
“Where in Three Rivers?”. Sarah Elliott. Retrieved April 13th, 2018.
“Terminus Reservior”. National Park Service. Retrieved April 13th, 2018.
“Lake Kaweah, California, USA”. Lakelubbers. Retrieved April 13th, 2018.

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