TRUCKEE, Calif. – Award-winning Truckee photographer Elizabeth Carmel has been selected to create her trademark photographic images for the new Donner Memorial State Park Museum. She will photograph a series of panoramic murals that convey the beauty and power of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, which will serve as backdrops for human interest and historic event exhibits. Carmel will employ aerial photography with the use of a helicopter to acquire optimum views of the mountain peaks and landscapes during sunrise and early morning to capitalize on the best available light for the museum project.

Included in the new museum will be displays and information about an early pioneer wagon train, the Donner Party, forced by circumstances to camp at the east end of Donner Lake in the winter of 1846-47, resulting in human suffering and loss of life. Also to be featured will be Native American history of the region, natural resource history through time, the history of the railroad development through the Donner Pass, the construction of Interstate 80 and how transportation played a role in the development of California.

Funding for the new visitor center at Donner Memorial State Park is separate from the current State budget crisis in California and cannot be used for things other than the kind of project proposed for the new museum. Funding is provided by the federal Highway Administration under the Inter-Model Surfaces Transportation Enhancement Act (ISTEA) grant administered by Caltrans. Funds will also be provided by the 2002 State Park Bond.

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Carmel is known for her unique, dramatic photography, vivid colors, and artistic touches that create captivating visions of the natural world. She specializes in custom-sized prints to fit any wall space using museum quality pigment prints and the “giclee” printing technique. She most recently completed a striking 150-foot long by 8-foot tall mural for a Lake Tahoe lakefront estate.

Carmel is also the author of two photographic books: “Brilliant Waters,” with a forward written by Robert Redford, and “Changing Range of Light,” a book describing the environmental threat of global warming in the Sierra Nevada. She also pens a monthly column for Outdoor Photography magazine.

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Carmel, along with husband Olof, owns and operates the Carmel Gallery, located at 9940 Donner Pass Road in Truckee. The 2,600-square foot Carmel Gallery features fine art landscape photography by both the Carmels, along with a collection of sculpture, woodwork, jewelry, and glasswork. The gallery’s website, http://www.thecarmelgallery.com offers online orders that can be shipped anywhere in the USA. The gallery is open daily from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and can be reached by calling 530-582-0557 or 888-482-4632.