Location: Cowee Mountain Overlook,  Milepost 430
Sunset from Cowee Mountain Overlook

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM
Focal Length: 32mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: .8
Aperture: f/20
Filters: Singh-Ray ND-3G-SS, CPL
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: Taken from the northern end of Cowee Mountain Overlook, I composed this shot using a tripod and then adjusted a circular polarizer and an ND filter. I tripped the shutter with a shutter release cable.

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Location: Rodside, just south of Waterrock Knob
A couple of black bears enjoying the quiet of the government shutdown. After years of planning their dream vacation in the mountains of North Carolina, a couple of bears found the national park closed and the visitor centers along the Blue Ridge Parkway closed. Luckily they came across a grassy spot just off the side of the road that offered a great view of the sunset.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: EF-S 10-22mm
Focal Length: 10mm
ISO: 125
Shutter: 1/8 sec
Aperture: f/13
Filters: “Moose” 81a/CPL , Singh-Ray Galen Rowell ND 3G SS
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: After setting the picnic scene and finding a composition that I liked, I set a 36″ silver reflector to the left to capture available light and bring out the shadow areas on the bear’s faces. I used a Canon 580 flash unit with softbox handheld at about a 30 degree angle to fill the remaining shadows and bring out the bear’s eyes. A tripod was used to steady the camera and a GND filter was held over a warming/CPL filter which was mounted to the lens. This filter combination allowed me to use the flash unit to fill the foreground shadows and expose the background sunset without overexposing either.

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