LOOKING GLASS ROCK

ISO 100, f/14, 1/125, 120mm

  What a difference a day makes.
  Tim Owens and I met up with Curt Fleenor Sunday morning on the Blue Ridge Parkway to photograph sunrise and then fall color along the Parkway all day.
  Although we did get to photograph some beautiful waterfalls, Mother Nature did not allow us to capture any sunrise or brilliant fall color due to complete cloud cover all day long. This is perfect for shooting moving water, but for colorful mountain vistas we would have much rather had some blue skies mixed in with the clouds.
  We did have a great time and took a lot of photos though and I was extremely happy to meet and shoot with G+ friend Curt Fleenor for the first time. Fantastic guy and a great photographic eye.
  This morning, Tim and I thought we would run into more of the same. We started out on the Parkway working our way toward Interstate 26 thinking the fog would push us west and into the Smokies to shoot at the Roaring Fork Motor Trail on our journey home.
  At roughly 9:00am however, the clouds broke over the Parkway and gave us a stunning view of Looking Glass Rock from Pounding Mill Overlook. Low clouds were hovering all around the valley with the sun striking through. It was exactly what we had hoped for on Sunday.
  Usually, I shoot wide angle and try to capture grand vistas. This morning, though, I was more inclined to mount the 70-300 Canon lens on and compress the landscape some. I am so glad I did. It allowed me to draw more attention to Looking Glass Rock than the entire valley and still catch some of that wonderful fall color in the process.