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Photo Trek: The Blue Ridge Parkway
Photo Trek: 04-25-2008, The Blue Ridge Parkway
The All American Drive
It has been too long since I took a nice trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sure, I have been several times in the past year, but the Parkway was more of a route to my destination than anything else. As it had turned out, the weather, and seasons just had not made things very favorable for photography. While I was working last week, I made the decision that I was going to get out to the Parkway for the day just for the sake of the Parkway.
The weather was a bit tricky to figure out over the past few days, but after two solid days of the complete opposite of what was forecasted, I decided to make a leap of faith and trust what I was reading about Friday's forecast. Partly cloudy skies with a chance of an afternoon thunderstorm seemed to be just what I had in mind for the Trek (thinking previsualization here). I was hoping that spring had at least gotten started in the higher elevations as I was wanting some nice rich greens to go with the blue skies. While things weren't quite what I had hoped for in terms of vegetation, there was more than enough to work with.
The day actually started much too early to tell what conditions were awaiting me. The clock rang at 3:30am so I could be on the road by 4am. I was hoping for a nice sunrise to start the day. I arrived about an hour before sunrise and had my spot all picked out, in plenty of time to see a whole bunch of nothing. That was fine, as I had alternate plans with this location. I was going to wait for the sun to clear the mountain range to my left, providing some very directional sunlight on the valley below. For this particular shot, I found it necessary to use my hard edge split ND filter in the 3 stop variety to keep the exposure in the sky under control.
Appalachian Spring
From the Grandview Overlook it was time to head North to see what else I could find. It has been a while since I have trekked North so I was excited about what lay ahead for me. I found some old stomping grounds where I have spent a good amount of time with a camera. The conditions were right to spend some time at these locations. One of which was my favorite red, rusty gate along with a barbed wire fence. In fact, it seemed that fences became a theme of sorts for me. I found many of the old fences that I have photographed in the past. Some of them were a bit worse for the wear though...but that added a good deal of interest.
The Fence That Once Was
As you can see, just because something is broken, or is torn down, doesn't mean that it doesn't have a good deal of beauty left. It took me about 45 minutes to figure out what to do with this section of the fence. It intrigued me, but confused me at the same time. Breaking out of my normal thought process, I looked at it as a geometric shape, and the composition just fell right into place.
It wasn't long before the clouds started to roll in and obscure the sky that I wanted so badly. Shortly after lunch, it was time to head home. With nearly 200 pictures saved to the memory card I knew I had a lot of work to do. It actually didn't take me very long to go through the days photographs and pick out the ones that I liked. You can view my new additions in the Blue Ridge Parkway Room of the Four Forty-Six Photography Gallery.
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i love the pictures just amazing
Deb -
Beautiful photos Greg! I check out all the new ones in the gallery, these that you have used here are my favorites. I think the first one on top is my favorite of all from this trek. I'm glad you were able to get out for a nice day. Sorry I'm so late arriving to check things out. Martha :-)
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I always try to get old gates and fences in my shots, they add so much perspective and interest. I love all these views, The Blue Ridge Parkway is a spectacular drive. Jeannette xx
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Wow I love that fence - you really did get the composition just right there. There is a beauty about it you are right. My partner and I were walking through woods yesterday and the best picture was one of an old gate in the distance amongst the wood and bluebells. Laine x
4/28/08 10:28 AM
Lisa