Location: Cowee Mountain Overlook, Milepost 430.7 on the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

“Cowee Wowee”
The sun sets below the clouds on an October evening at the Cowee Mountain Overlook.
© 2013 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved

Camera: Nikon D5100
Lens: Nikkor DX 18-55mm 3.5
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 0.7
Aperture: 22
Filters: Cokin gradient density
Exposure: Aperture Priority
How I Got This Shot: The light and layers of clouds over the Cowee Mountains showed promise for a colorful sunset on this warm October evening. As the sun descended below the dark gray clouds, the sky exploded into hues of rose and peach. I used a tripod and a 2 second self-timer shutter release along with a handheld Cokin gradient density filter to capture the richness of the colorful sky against the inky clouds and shadowy mountain ridges.

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Date Taken: 10/04/2013
Location: United States
“Glorious”
Sunset at the Cowee Mountain Overlook. Blue Ridge Parkway MM430.7

Camera: Nikon D5100
Lens: Nikkor DX 18-55mm 3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 40mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/250
Aperture: f/5.6
Filters: Cokin Gradient Neutral Density
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: The Cowee Mountains Overlook is a great place to watch clouds and photograph the setting sun over the seemingly endless blue ridges. The contrast between the bright setting sun and the dark clouds and ridge requires a little effort to achieve balance. I used a tripod, gradient neutral density filter, and timed shutter release to capture this image. Post-processing in Lightroom involved adjusting contrast, clarity, and minor edits to bring out the apricot colors of the sky.

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Location: Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 418.8
“Tapestry”
An early October afternoon at Graveyard Fields.
© 2013 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved

Camera: Nikon D5100
Lens: Nikkor DX 18-55mm 3.5
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/125
Aperture: 11
Filters: none
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: Streams of late afternoon sunlight turned to fire on this ridge at Graveyard Fields. Normally everyone shoots the waterfalls and river in front of and to the left of the ridge, but on this occasion the light demanded that I capture the tapestry of Autumn colors Graveyard Fields is famous for. Shot handheld.

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