Photo By: Eric McCarty, Blue Ridge Parkway Daily Founder
Location: Ferrin Knob Tunnel #3 – Milepost 401
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Lens: Canon 70-200 Ultrasonic L
ISO: 100
Aperture: 32
Shutter: 6.2 seconds
Exposure: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 73mm
Filters: Cokin P 153 Neutral Density
How I Got This Shot
The Parkway tunnel arches always make for a nice image. I really liked the way the vines contrasted with and framed the stonework at this one between Asheville and Mount Pisgah. I pulled off and set up my tripod in the grass just off the road. It was an overcast day, so I thought if I used a really small aperture and a filter or two, I might be able to use a slow enough shutter speed to get a car all the way through the frame. Cars are supposed to have their lights on in the tunnels and most did.
I used a short cable release to prevent camera shake and held the filter over the front of the lens. (I didn’t have the Cokin mount for this particular lens, so I had to hold it about an inch in front of the lens for the 6-second exposure.) It is a little difficult to time the exposure right and open it just before the car came into view, but after a few cars went by, I got the timing down pretty well. I shot several cars over about a 10 minute span.
An added bonus was that when I looked at the image on my computer, I saw a starburst at the point where the headlights were pointing straight at me on the right side of the light streak.