The Flickr Spottedlake Image Generatr

* La red secreta del lago manchado

*** My images actually exist in the material world in which we live. My work is imaginative, but it is not fantasy.

*** Mes images existe réellement dans le monde matériel dans lequel nous vivons. Mon travail est imaginatif, mais pas fantastique.

* Spotted Lake is a mysterious seasonal alkaline lake in southern British Columbia. It consists mainly of pale alkaline mud with hundreds of medium-sized potholes which are usually filled with water while the lake bed itself is moist but not under water. But all of that is subject to the dry and rainy seasons in this very hot and dry valley of BC. The lake is on the land of a First Nation which guards and cares for it. No trespassing is allowed. I made my images in a great hurry in late August without really being able to view the back of the camera in the dust and heat. I tried all sorts of ICM etc. techniques and was amazed by the results. This lake has been photographed thousands of times, including by the New York Times who did a wonderful job of it, with great drone pics of this drone-happy lake. My problem is that most of those snapshots leave me cold, even the drone pics after the first minute or so. I felt there was so much more to be explored and played with at this special place. (Note the animal tracks in the white mud all over the lake :)

* Le lac Spotted est un mystérieux lac alcalin saisonnier situé dans le sud de la Colombie-Britannique. Il se compose principalement de boue alcaline pâle avec des centaines de nids-de-poule de taille moyenne qui sont généralement remplis d'eau tandis que le lit du lac lui-même est humide mais pas sous l'eau. Mais tout cela dépend des saisons sèches et pluvieuses dans cette vallée très chaude et sèche de la Colombie-Britannique. Le lac se trouve sur les terres d'une Première Nation qui le garde et en prend soin. Aucune intrusion n’est autorisée. J'ai réalisé mes images en toute hâte fin août sans vraiment pouvoir voir l'arrière de l'appareil dans la poussière et la chaleur. J'ai essayé toutes sortes de techniques ICM, etc. et j'ai été étonné par les résultats. Ce lac a été photographié des milliers de fois, notamment par le New York Times qui a fait un travail remarquable, avec de superbes photos prises par drone de ce lac heureux. Mon problème est que la plupart de ces instantanés me laissent froid, même les photos du drone après environ la première minute. J'avais l'impression qu'il y avait tellement plus à explorer et à jouer dans cet endroit spécial. (Notez les traces d'animaux dans la boue blanche partout sur le lac :)

Trees are lit up in autumn colours behind the east end of Spotted Lake. When water is low, the lake consists of numerous pools ringed by minerals. It is considered sacred by the Syilx Okanagan people of the region. (Richard McGuire Photo) (335)

Osoyoos, in Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, is known for its warm summers, gorgeous lakes, unique desert wildlife and great outdoor activities as well as a desert environment, and the unique natural formation of Spotted Lake. This mineral lake is located along Highway 3, west of Osoyoos in the Eastern Similkameen Valley. It is easily missed if you are not paying attention.

In winter and spring, the lake looks just like any other body of water. But as most of the water starts to evaporate in summer, hundreds of huge briny pools are left behind, leaving a polka-dotted landscape of yellow, green and blue spots. The colorful pools are the result of a high concentration of minerals, including calcium, sodium sulphates and magnesium sulphate that have collected in the water.

Spotted Lake has been considered a sacred place for centuries by the indigenous people of the Okanagan Nation. They believed that each of the 365 circles had different healing and medicinal properties. The lake was originally known to the First Nations of the Okanagan Valley as kłlilx’w. The land surrounding the lake belongs to the Okanagan Nation. Out of respect for the sensitive environment and for the Okanagan Nation, visitors are not permitted beyond the viewpoint, but the view and photo opportunities from the highway are excellent.

I had a colourful photo of the lake taken in the summer of 1973, but it had faded and was in poor condition. We went to the Okanagan in June this year and took some photos. The colour of the spots of the lake at this time of the year was not as vivid, but the spots were obvious.

©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®


No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)


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I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 43.820+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.


***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on Thursday 6th October 2022


CREATIVE RF gty.im/1428623037 MOMENT ROYALTY FREE COLLECTION**


This photograph became my 5,708th frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.


©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)


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Photograph taken at an altitude of Six hundred and five metres at 09:29am on Tuesday 10th September 2019 off the Crowsnest Highway 3 between South Okanagan grasslands protected area and Osoyoos Lake, at Spotted Lake in Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada.


Spotted lake is asaline endorheic alkali lake situated in the Similkameen valley of BC conating depoits of magnesium sulphate, calcium and sodium sulphates, silver and titanium. In the summer months due to evaporation circles of mineral deposits are outlined in the lake to stunning effect. The lake is known as Kliluk to first nations people who purchased and protected the lake in October 2001. It is now fenced off and first nations people ask that visitors do not enter the land, or at least respect it.


Of all the days to visit Spotted lake, it had to be raining and overcast! So sadly there was little to see of the amazing circles and colours, reason enough I guess for me to one day return in Spring or summer.


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Nikon D850. Focal length 46mm Shutter speed 1/10s Aperture f/16.0 iso250 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Hand held with Nikon VR Vibration reduction set to normal. Focus mode AF-C focus 51 point with 3D- tracking. AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode - Aperture priority exposure. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Matrix metering. ISO Sensitivity: Auto. White balance: Natural light auto. Colour space Adobe RGB. Nikon Distortion control on. Picture control: Auto. High ISO NR on. Vignette control: normal. Active D-lighting Auto.


Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 77mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 0.3 (1 stop) Neutral density graduated soft resin filter. Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Nikon EN-EL15a battery.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod 3 Sections (Payload: 5.6kgs). Manfrotto 327RC2 Light Duty Grip Ball Magnesium Tripod Head (Payload: 5.5kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 200PL-14. Jessops Tripod bag.Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release cable.


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LATITUDE: N 49d 4m 43.74s
LONGITUDE: W 119d 33m 41.07s
ALTITUDE: 605.0m


RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 91.1MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 44.60MB





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PROCESSING POWER:


Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18) LF 1.00


HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.3.1 11/07/2019). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

Mineral rings were once again visible at Spotted Lake, west of Osoyoos, in autumn 2022. In previous years since 2017, they were mostly underwater. (Richard McGuire Photo) (323)

Epsomite is a hydrated magnesium sulphate which often forms in saline lake beds such as those found in the BC Interior. The crystals tend to lose water (effloresce) in dry air, making them rather unstable. The crystals are orthorhombic.

Spotted Lake, Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada

S-83-6107

In February in the South Okanagan, sometimes the cloudy skies break up to let in sunlight. Spotted Lake, which is sacred to Okanagan First Nations, is already a magic place. This day was especially magic. (Richard McGuire photo) (262)