May 6, 2014
I think I'm going to become a weatherman. I can guess at the weather just as good as the next guy, and since being correct isn't a requirement I think I could do just fine in that position. I had been watching the weather for several days and had figured out that today would be a good waterfall day because they were calling for mostly cloudy skies from here to the mountains. As the day approached, however, the clouds started to become more intermittent and not so great for waterfalls. I had the trucks cleaned, the yard mowed, and two days left on my weekend so what to do. Well, I decided to take advantage of the early morning cloud cover of 45% which should be pretty good for a sunrise, and then I would chase clouds the rest of the day along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I decided to start at Doughton Park which I have tried to visit several times, but it has been closed for the season. My plan today was to park at the restaurant across the street and walk into the park.
In order to do all of this before sunrise I had to get up at 3:15am in order to be on the road by 4. That would put me at the park around 5:30 or so in time for a 6am sunrise. I was right on schedule, but the weather seemed to be transitioning quickly as I was getting ready to leave. The clouds I had been expecting were no longer in the forecast and I was starting to think that I was going to be calling it a day before I even got started. Instead, I decided to go on as I had planned and see what happened. I arrived at the Parkway a little after 5 and started South toward Doughton Park. I stopped briefly at Air Bellows Gap since I have had luck with sunrises from here several times. The only problem was there were no clouds in the sky, and therefore no reason to stop here for a sunrise. I decided to head on into the park and see what I could find there.
I arrived right on schedule, and started to walk the length of the driveway to get to the main section of the park. I forgot how long this drive was. Based on my pace, and time I was walking, I think that it was well over a mile, and close to two miles before I reached my destination. I looked East and found there to still be no clouds, so I decided I would try to take advantage of the alpenglow to the West. No such luck there either...my clouds were all to my West, and weren't doing me any favors at all. I found a tree to set up on, but quickly found that I wasn't going to get any color at all, and the clouds were just dulling the colors. I could see that above and to my left there was a little bit of color in the clouds, so I moved my position and tried to incorporate those clouds.
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| Brewing |
Things were just not working in my favor at all this morning and while I had color, the pictures that resulted just were not what I had in mind. While working the pictures, I decided to see what they would look like as a black and white conversion. I liked it a good bit better, but I still wasn't all that happy with what I had. As the sun cam up, I was very disappointed to find that the sky had taken on a split personality of sorts. There were either high, featureless clouds, or blank blue sky. To make matters worse, the wind was howling. Normally, there is a steady breeze in the mountains, but I was having to deal with 25-30mph winds fairly regularly. This makes photography very difficult because trees don't like to stand still in an onslaught of wind like that. It will also make the camera move which will soften the picture. Adding to all of that, the wind was strong enough at times to keep my balance off, and I almost lost my hat twice!
Not wanting to give up, I continued to look around for other compositions that I could use taking into account the conditions of the sky. I wasn't having much luck on the side where I was so I started to move over to the other side of the park. Not wanting to go through the strange cutouts in the fence, I thought that I could circumvent the trail by walking around the perimeter. Unfortunately, that idea didn't pan out. However, I did find another view that I had never seen here before. The sun was hitting it just right, and there was enough interest in the sky that I felt it was worth setting the camera up.
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| Doughton's Bluff |
I had all the ingredients needed for a good picture here. I had a fence that was lit by the morning sun, green grass for contrast, with patches of yellow to blend with the fence. There was a dominant tree, and some interesting cloud patterns in the sky. I set things up, and added a 2-Stop hard edge ND Grad to help with the sky. Things came together nicely, but the wonderful light passed me by after only a few minutes. I was fortunate to have gotten this shot before everything dulled down again.
When the light left me here, I decided to continue on to the other side of the parking lot to see what the other side of the field had to offer. There was an old fallen tree that I have photographed before and I was looking forward to trying my hand at it again today. I started to hike up the hill and realized that all of my normal compositions would be aimed right into the sun, so I was going to have to try something different today. Of course, that was fine by me as I wanted to make all new photographs today.
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| Field of Dreams |
Oddly enough, I found that a composition that shot over the parking area worked out very nicely after all. The downed tree really showcased the field on the opposite side, and gave it a sense of scale in a way. While I would have rather the sky looked different, at least there is some visual interest there which keeps the eyes in the frame. I usually do a lot of work with this tree, and had considered using my 10-Stop ND filter today with the clouds, but with the wind picking up, I knew there was no way I was going to get that to happen. I was having a hard enough time making a half second exposure, I wasn't willing to risk it for an exposure measured in minutes. Plus, the sky wasn't quite right for particular technique.
I finished walking up to the top of the hill and made the executive decision that I was going to need to get down lower because I was not even feeling comfortable leaving my camera on the tripod without me holding on to it. The gusts were nearing 50mph I feel certain. Even with the chin strap on my hat, I kept feeling it lift off of my head while I was walking. This was too much for me!
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| Winter's Last Hold |
Once I was safely back down at the bottom of the hill, I did a little more searching and found a nice red gate in a fence near the Bluff Mountain Trail. Of course, I had to try and get a composition with it included. To my surprise, I found that many of the trees were still bare. Usually, by this time, everything is at least starting to bloom for the most part along the Parkway. These examples were being a bit stubborn, but it did provide a nice contrast to the grass that was greening up nicely, and the blue tones in the sky above. I had to time my exposures just right to fall between the gusts of wind, but I was getting pretty good at doing just that!
At this point I felt that I had done everything that I could with the current conditions. I decided to head back to the truck and continue on down the Parkway to see what else I could find. While walking, I did keep my eyes out for other compositions. I saw a few, but the white clouds above eliminated those as choices. I was thinking that I could have done my waterfalls today because the lighting was nearly perfect for that. But the waterfalls were about 100 miles to my South, and I wasn't in position to be able to cover that kind of distance today.
While mulling over my options, I came across another fence which caught my eye. This one also had a red gate, but unlike so many possible subjects I had seen today, the sky above was visually interesting, and I decided to give things a try. My 24-70mm lens wasn't quite wide enough to get the effect I was after, so in the middle of hurricane intense winds, I swapped in my 16-35mm and added a 3-Stop ND Grad to control the sky.
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| A Gated View |
I was actually quite happy to have found this little jewel near the lodge. Normally, I am driving past it, and have never noticed it. I guess this is the benefit of walking in when I normally drive. While working this fence and gate, I also noticed a brace of trees in line with some large rocks to the right. The trees weren't all that special, but the way the trees and rocks played together, I decided to give a couple of compositions a try. It didn't take long before I settled on a position that allowed me to record the scene as I had seen it, and previsualized it moments before. I was still using my 16-35mm lens with the ND Grad on it, and that combination was spot on perfect.
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| Take Flight |
When I was looking at these rocks, they looked like an alien ship of some sort, and with the wind moving the trees, they were starting to look like some sort of propulsion device. When it came time to name the photograph, the only think I could think of was that alien ship taking off. Even though this is all just naturally formed elements on the landscape, there really is an aerodynamic quality to it. Maybe the wind was just getting to me!
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| Take Flight in B&W |
Just out of curiosity, I decided to give this one a go as a Black and White image as well. After some tonal tweaks and some contrast work, I think I ended up with a very good monochrome rendition of the scene. Nothing like the absence of color to really make you appreciate the textures, and wide range of tones in a scene. I feel that this one might even be more dramatic than the color version, but they both stand on their own,
With all of the wind I had been dealing with, I was starting to feel a touch motion sick. It was time to pack it in and head further down the Parkway in an attempt to find something that hopefully was shielded from some of these gusts of wind. One of the first places that I stopped was the sight of an old farm which was still behind a locked fence. There was an old truck there that I have wanted to try to photograph for some time now, but just haven't been able to get in close enough to make it work. However, today I was feeling the old collapsed barn next to it. While there wasn't much left to the barn, there was still a silo attached which was rather interesting in its own right.
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| The Forgotten |
Not being able to get that close and still have the proper angle was a frustrating thing for me. I could walk down to where the gate was in this picture, but the angle that I was allowed from there wasn't all that pleasing at all. Instead, I opted to fit my 70-200mm lens and shoot from further away, using the fence as my leading line. As a bonus from shooting from this location, I was able to capture the old truck to the left of the barn. You can't see much of it, but you can make it out, and that was a nice addition to the composition, and helps to tell the story I think. I wasn't quite done with this subject though. I decided to think outside of the box and shoot it in portrait orientation which was something that I had never done with this particular subject before. I have to say though...I like what I came up with.
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| All That Remains |
Still using my telezoom so that I didn't make the distant silo shrink in size, I brought in the fence which snaked perfectly from the left to the right, and then back left again for a perfect "S" curve leading to the silo. The truck is gone in this composition, but with that hard line, I needed there to be just one single visual prize at the end of that leading line. I have to say, this is the most satisfying shot I have taken of this old barn since my first attempt in 2005!
It was time to move on, and I did just that. I kept my eyes out for any additional subjects that might be worth a frame or two. As luck would have it, I passed by one of my favorite old fences along the Parkway and decided to give it a try. There are several different compositions that will work with this fence and red gate, but most of them are very dependent on the sky. Unfortunately, I didn't have much sky to work with at any angle.
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| In the Spring |
By cropping out most of the sky, I found a composition that worked, highlighting the wooden posts, and resigning the red gate to a supporting element. You can see the mountains in the distance, and visibility was fairly good despite the haze in the sky. I lucked out and got some very thin clouds passing by just above the horizon that gave me a little bit of visual interest in the sky which I was so afraid would have been lacking. The remaining dormant grass in the foreground was a nice addition and provided a pop of contrasting color that I felt was very needed in this picture.
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| Blue Ridge Mountains |
Just beyond the red gate there was this field that always captures my attention as I pass by. There are these wonderful bare trees right at the natural fold of the earth. The background of rolling hills leading out to the hazy distance is always a visual treat. I was wishing that there was some more interest in the sky, but as I did with the previous picture, I just cropped the sky close and focused on the more interesting portions of the scene. While I don't particularly like the resulting image, Toni really likes it, and because of that, here it is. I think that she is wanting to do a pastel rendition of it, and I hope that she does just that. I would love to see what she comes up with! At least she can put a cloud or two in the sky and improve on things tremendously.
While the day wasn't exactly what I was planning, I really can't complain about the results. I shot just shy of 100 frames in 5.5 hours. Of that, I ended up with 11 pictures that I chose to develop and share. Not too bad of a crop for the day. I will be adding several of them to the gallery here at 446photo.com as well so be sure to check out the different rooms to see what is new.
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