Dawn over Pilot Mountain - North Carolina

North Carolina is about 10 miles from where I live.  It's significantly faster for me to go to the lookouts in North Carolina than it is to any in Virginia(at least it is for the worthwhile ones:).

I photograph this pretty often, mainly because it never lets me down.  As long as the fog isn't too terribly thick, the views from the Fox Hunter's Paradise area never disappoint. 

This was taken just south of Fox Hunter's Paradise, at a large opening off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Sort of unrelated side story.....

The Grand Tetons in Wyoming are a beautiful sight to see.  So beautiful in fact, that the fur traders that first came to the area called them "les Trois Tétons" or "the Three Breasts."  "The Three Breasts", how awesome of a name is that!? 

I am hoping that after the fall of civilized man, and rebirth of the cave man(it's bound to happen), that the future, primitive, uneducated fur traders will give Pilot Mountain a proper name.  I can't say exactly what that will be, but my recommendation would be either Bosom Hill, or Mt. Milk Canon or something like that:)



Good Morning......

Morning in Shenandoah National Park

All in all we had a great time during our visit to Shenandoah.  The Blue Ridge Parkway becomes Skyline Drive at the start of the park.  The road takes you up onto the crest of the mountains and leads you to many different lookouts.

During this trip, we never made it out of the south district of the park(the park is crazy long).  Therefore I will be returning to the park in the near future to capture images from the other districts, and to take in the peaking fall color:)



Thanks for looking....

The first sunrise we got to see, shot with a Canon 70-200 2.8L and a graduated ND filter.

A not-so-terrible looking HDR shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8

Layers of hill/mountains.

A roadside spike!

Dark Hallow Falls (Shenandoah National Park)

Dark Hallow Falls is one of the more popular places to go in Shenandoah National Park, and for good reason.  The waterfall is beautiful.  Multiple cascades flow over moss covered stone, through a forest full of changing leaves.

Sort of unrelated back story....

I went to the Mesa Verde Arch in Canyonlands National Park late last fall.  I was not the first to arrive at the parking lot, but the first to the arch, well before sunrise.  There is a bush very near the arch that I hid in front of so that other people/photographers could also enjoy the sunrise from behind me.  It was a wonderful experience full of shutter clicks and the occasional 'that's beautiful' comment from a wife to a husband.  But other than that, it was quiet.  We all showed respect for one another to maximize the enjoyment for everyone that was there....

This day at the waterfall was a bit different.  Maybe people are just more polite out west, but here in Shenandoah I got a bad taste in my mouth regarding the average tourist.
A photographer doesn't show up to a landmark and yell and laugh with his friends, he doesn't let his kids run wild all over the place, he is there to document, and enjoy.  He(hopefully) has others in mind as he does his thing. 
This waterfall was full of loud people, laughing and yelling, kids running all over the place, people stopping for long periods of time to take photos from the trail that also included other people trying to get by.  It was.... crazy... to say the least.
Even as bothered as I was by this, when climbing the different levels of the falls I still naturally tried to stay out of other people's way, as much as I wanted to stand up on the middle tier and shoot right in the center of it, ruining everyone's photographs.  But alas... I resisted these temptations, and resisting temptation is definitely not my forte:)

I will make my next trip to the falls more enjoyable by showing up super early in the morning.  If there are any people there at that time, they are more likely to have the same values as me regarding the enjoyment of nature:)

I write this to encourage you to soak in nature the way it was supposed to be soaked in.  Listen to the sounds of the falling water, watch the occasional leaf be spun around in a whirlpool, feel the same wind that moves the trees so dramatically.  Just take it in, and share:)

The middle tier of Dark Hallow falls.  Shot with the Sigma 50mm 1.4.

A wider perspective of the middle tier. Shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8.

Top tier of the falls, shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8 using a graduated ND filter.

A closer, yet still wide perspective of the top tier of the falls.

Fall Color on the Jone's Run Trail (Shenandoah National Park)

This was going to be a post about an awesome waterfall in the South District of Shenandoah National Park.  Jones Run Falls, to be exact.  It didn't quite work out that way... 

I must be honest with you.  While I enjoy the journey, I am a 'destination' kind of guy.  Most of my pleasure comes from reaching/photographing my destination.  As for the journey?  That's just gravy(but not my fave)

Well today was a little different.  The gf and me were en route to Jones Run Falls, when we noticed two hikers looking up into the woods.  What they were looking at turned out to be a yearling black bear.  I attempted to mount the zoom lens, but by the time all of that took place, the bear was a long ways away through a dense forest... but still fun to see no doubt(turns out that the journey can be fun afterall!)

The trails in Shenandoah are carpeted with yellow and red leaves right now, and the color is only getting more intense.  Below are a few images of the leaves that have fallen in the right spot:)


All  images below(with the exception of the final image) are shot with the Sigma 50mm 1.4 through a Helioplan Circular Polarizer.  The final image was shot with the Canon 70-200 2.8 L.

 Are you prepared for the following image?  Can you ever truly be prepared for a raging waterfall such as the one you are about to see?  I present to you, in all its glory..... JONES RUN FALLS!!!!!!!!!!




Ok so maybe it isn't that awesome:(




Vines creeping up a tree.



Backlit Leaves....

Thanks for looking... I will have one more post on Shenandoah(until the next time I go later this month)  :)

A Sunrise Hello, A Harvest Moon Goodbye... (Shenandoah National Park)

 Summer can't last forever, at least not in this part of the hemisphere.  The end of summer brings a welcome change in most people's eyes.  The temps cool down to crisp mornings and only slightly warm days, and a bloom that seems to start in March finally comes to an end, but fortunately it doesn't just end. 

Before winter, we get to experience an incredible transition.   We get to see mountain after mountain painted with bright yellow, orange, and red.  Combine this with the already beautiful blue haze of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and you have yourself one colorful sight to see for sure.

The peak colors are happening in different areas very soon.  During our hikes(photos to come) we saw some great forest color, both up high and carpeting the forest floor. 

I would like to encourage you to get out, take a drive(even better, walk) through nature and soak it all in.  Soon enough, it will all be gone, and we will be waiting for green again. 

Below are two images from our last morning in the park.  We got up REALLY early to catch the moonrise, only to find out that I had the iphone app set to the wrong day, giving us an hour at an overlook to sleep in the car. 

After a quick predawn nap, we headed for an overlook that was closed to cars... Ivy Creek I think. The sunrise was incredibly colorful, even for a cloudless morning.

As soon as the sun came up(this was one of the last images I took) we headed for a different overlook facing the other direction.  We drove past an opening in the road and, instead of driving to the overlook, parked the car on the shoulder and set up there.  The harvest moon only comes once a year, and I felt it was very important to capture it.  There is nothing extra spectacular about a harvest moon that isn't just as spectacular every other full moon, it's simply the first full moon after the beginning of fall:)

Enjoy... and get outside!  If you need a hiking partner... you've got one in me!

A sunrise captured by the Sigma 50mm set to f16(the smallest aperture) for the sunstar effect.

The fading harvest moon captured by a Canon 70-200 2.8 L.

Wilson Creek (Grayson Highlands State Park)

There is something about this place...  something totally awesome.   I even feel like a more awesome person when I come here.  I can leave this place and tell people 'I went to the highlands today' and they immediately know that I had a way more badass time then they did.  

Here is a quick double check on what a awesomely awesome park should have, and whether or not Grayson Highlands State Park has what it takes....

EPIC views of the Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee(yes you can see that far) mountains?  Check.

WILD animals, most notably, horses?  Check.

WELL MAINTAINED trails for horses, bikers, and hikers?  Check.

OFF THE CHAIN cascades and waterfalls?  Oh Hell Yes.(our focus for this post)

A classic Virginia view:)

Not too bad of detail for a Pentax k20d + 16-45

As soon as the sun breaks, you are racing it up the creek, trying to get your shots before the rays come in.

Endless cascades on Wilson Creek

Big cascades, watch your step here:)

I'll give you one guess as to how many aperture blades my Sears 135mm has:)  They are painfully straight, as you can see in the bokeh.

Comers Creek Falls

An hour drive and a twenty minute walk is about all it takes to get to here from Piper's Gap, VA.  I took the dog on this little trek not expecting to stay long since the sun was unobstructed as I left the house.

Once I got there, a layer of clouds slowly started to move in, allowing me to shoot the falls with a little more control.  A canopy of trees and a cloudless day can mean some nasty shadows, shadows that render photos worthless in my book.

Here are the images from yesterday's 'dog walk'.
The color in Virginia is only getting better... so stay tuned:)

The noise of this falls is best portrayed in this images(it has a bit of a roar)

If you look REALLY closely you can see little Margot the Yorkie on the bank

The clouds really started rolling in as I left