ROUND BALD RAYS

ISO 200, f/16, 1/6 second, 10mm

After patiently waiting through complete cloud cover the skies opened up and gave us some awesome light and rays over Round Bald.

EPIC

ISO 100, f/20, 2.5 seconds, 10mm

  Wednesday's sunrise was one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen. It is primarily due to the view we were looking at on Round Bald in the Roan Highlands.
  One of the neat things about Round Bald was the long grass that was covered and highlighted by the heavy dew. I was completely soaked within 5 minutes from walking around in it. That was the only drawback. When the sun started to crest the mountains on the far horizon, that dew started catching that light and created some magical highlights against the green grass. It was just awesome.
  I positioned myself next to this group of rocks that were engulfed by the grass and the rocks captured that same light as well. It was just a complete epic light show in the sky and on the ground. With the fog-covered valley separating the two, I don't think it could have gotten any better.

ROANE CLEARING

ISO 200, f/16, 1/6, -0.3EV, 10mm

  Our last destination on Richard Bernabe's Roane Highlands First Bloom Workshop was just up the Appallacian Trail from Round Bald on a gathering of rocks that made for some neat compositions looking to the north, south, and especially looking back west toward Round Bald from where we had hiked from.
  We were on these rocks for at least 3 hours watching nature do it's thing. When we first arrived, the cloud formations toward the west for sunset were incredible and we were expecting epic light. Somewhere around 7:00-7:30 the gray clouds we watched approach for an hour or so finally overcame the scene and we were completely engulfed in cloud cover giving us doubt of seeing that epic light.
  The 4 women our group of 11 gave up on sunset and started their way back to the parking area. About 20 minutes after they left the clouds parted like Moses parting the Red Sea. Just in time for us to see the ladies hiking their way up to Round Bald. Richard let out a couple of large WOO-HOO's and we could hear the ladies laughing across the way.
  Our patience paid off. We ended up seeing some terrific light and cloud formations directly over Round Bald and the setting sun.
  The entire time we were on these rocks I found my favorite composition in front of these few rocks that seem to all be pointing in the direction of the sunset and Round Bald with Rhododendron blooming just the other side of them. I made sure and rushed back over and capture this sunset in this spot and luck should have it that right above it everything seemed to converge right where these rocks were pointing.

TAYLOR BARN ROLLS IN

ISO 100, f/20, 0.6 seconds, -0.3EV, 16mm

  Boy, you just can't beat a morning that involves hey rolls, an old barn, sunrise light, and fog. Yep, believe it or not, I had all of these converge into a fantastic, yet quick morning of photography.
  Instead of driving to Vonore and shooting on the way to work like I normally do, I took a detour towards Sweetwater in hope of finding some hey rolls on old 68 highway. Luckily, at the old Taylor barn, the field was littered with rolls and a little bit of fog in between the trees in the background. the sunrise was slightly blocked by clouds was diffused enough to not overpower the scene but create enough nice light against the gorgeous clouds. It was a perfect scene.

MUDDY ICON

ISO 100, f/22, 0.6 seconds, +0.3 EV, 10mm

  Since acquiring a wide angle lens I have made it a point to re-visit places that I have taken shots of before just to see what the new lens can do for new compositions.
  This afternoon I made the trek down River Rd to see what 4-6 inches of overnight rain did to the Tellico River. Wow! Completely swelled up the Tellico River and turned into a brown, muddy mess.
  After driving roughly 12 miles down the road and finding a few neat cascades to shoot, I made my way back to Bald River Falls. As I thought, directly in front of the falls was completely covered in spray as if it was raining. The spray did not carry over to the parking area side of the road though, leaving a decent composition with a small grouping of trees splitting the Bald River in two before it joins back together under the bridge and dumps into the Tellico. 
  At 10mm focal length, the two form leading lines up to the falls from the bottom corners. Wouldn't have been able to capture it that way with my old 19mm lens.
  Normally, the water coming over the falls is just white and beautiful. Today it was brown with mud but pouring heavy over it. You can see the heavy spray coming off the falls to right as well.