December 01, 2025

as always, the full gallery is at the bottom, so skip there if you don’t care about the words

Getting out of the car, today’s walk was going to be short and full. Kristin and Chestnut were joining me for the evening stroll. Yes, it’s day two of my personal challenge to go for a daily photo walk, and this one was a close call. Today was filled with an afternoon of chores; taking Chestnut to the vet, donating stuff to Goodwill, and more boring things like that. The real life of a photographer, am I right?!

Anyways, the day was getting ahead of me, but I packed my camera because I knew this was going to happen. Keeping today’s photo walk close to home, we parked at the trailhead about two blocks from our house so Chestnut could run and I could snap a few frames. Kristin was just along for the ride. Moral support I suppose, or she was feeling some FOMO after seeing yesterday’s photographs.

My watch read 16:21, or 4:21 pm, for those who don’t use military time. BTW I am not in the military, nor was I raised in one, but telling time via military time is one of the best things.

Sunset is roughly 4:45, so I only had 20 minutes to create something. Luckily, the colors were popping like it was nobodies business right outside of the car. Lifting the camera to my face, I snapped my first image of the evening: A golden silhouette of pine trees.

My first frame of the evening. Follow Dalton on your favorite platform: @storiesbydalton

My eyes were flooded with the golden light of sunset. While I wanted to stay and snap some more images in the area, Chestnut needed to run, so we continued along the trail to an overlook and let the fluff ball run around, free.

What I Brought On Today’s Photo Walk:

Sony a7r4 (the updated version if you are a gear nerd)
Tamron 28-200mm all-in-one zoom (they have launched a newer model of this, but haven’t tried it yet)
Peak Design Lite strap (I was lucky enough to get the camo version from the Sitka collab that sold out in less than 24 hours and feel cool about that)

“Would you go stand on those rocks so I can take a photo?” I asked Kristin

Without a second thought Kristin responded, “Nope, you’ve taken that before, do something different.”

Damn! Tonight was going to be only landscapes I guess.

While I enjoy taking landscape images, this spot, despite views of Lake Tahoe, is boring without snow. The trees are often in the way and without a drone packed, the foreground is mostly bushes without leaves and dirt.

Not the best recipe for a photograph.

So, I just played around with my camera as the clock ticked, minute after minute. Frame after frame.

Here are some of the shots I tried to create:

A solar flare image - yes, I got one, but it is boring
Kristin and Chestnut walking on a log together with Tallac in the background - Chestnut wanted to play and wouldn’t follow Kristin on the log
A series of Kristin bundled up, cold - she wasn’t happy about these, but I think they are cute
Another moon shot, framed - it worked, but not my favorite

After the sun set, a layer of fog started dancing along the north shore of Lake Tahoe. Follow Dalton on your favorite platform: @storiesbydalton

As the light faded, Chestnut got the zoomies. Terrorizing the dirt, the snow, and barking at us, he sprinted in every direction, often doing circles around Kristin and I. Just the thought of Chestnut and all his craziness makes me smile.

Tonight was good evening walk, even if it was only 29 minutes long.

Looking back, here’s how I could have improved my photo walk:

used the car window to give a sense of place and frame up the golden light in the pines
brought along a drone to reach different angles
taken a timelapse of the fog moving in and out along the north shore
snapped more frames of Chestnut and Kristin
come with an idea other than “to document”

While I am not sure how much this will change the way I shoot, I can say ideas 1,3,&4 are all ways of creating I could have embraced without changing my approach to these photo walks.

Again, thank you to anyone and everyone reading this. If you have enjoyed this journal entry, shoot me an email to say hey: dalton@dalton-johnson.com

✌️