USA Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spring--Panorama

We can go for weeks, or even months, without seeing clouds--a necessary element for a good landscape shot. On Monday there were great clouds and snow-capped peaks. Recent rains removed any haze. I drove to a hillside in Rescue, a few miles from my home, and took six shots that I later stitched together in a panorama shot in Lightroom.

A tripod is essential. Leveling it on the side of a hill can be tricky but necessary so that when you pan the camera to take the individual shots, they stitch together properly. These shots were taken at 350mm, so I enabled mirror lock and used a remote shutter cable. (At 350mm camera shake-blurred images--are likely unless you are very careful ). I also used a circular polarizer filter adjusted for maximum contrast. The individual shots were taken in Portrait mode with the focus point at the bottom of the frame to ensure foreground focus and I shot a f/11 to maximize focus through the entire shot.

Rescue is about 30 miles up hill (east) from Sacramento on Highway 50--headed up to South Lake Tahoe. Highway 50 is mostly a two-lane road with many photo shot opportunities as opposed to I 80 which is a multi-lane freeway with many trucks. Highway 50 is the photographer's choice to get to lake Tahoe.