Photo by: Landscapes of the Blue Ridge

Location: Thunder Ridge Near View Arnold Valley Overlook

I was up on the parkway chasing some storms around and then the clouds opened up with a really intense light beam.

Camera: Sony A580
Lens: Zeiss 16-35
Focal Length: 24mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/13, 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100
Aperture: f22
Filters: none
Exposure: manual and multiple
How I Got This Shot: While chasing storms I was fortunate to witness the clouds part in a small area for an unusually intense light show down in the valley. Obviously in photography some type of light manipulation is required since the camera cannot perform over as wide a dynamic range of light as the human eye. I find it interesting that so many photographers prefer to go the pre-capture route via the use of an array of filters. I am a post capture fan and like the advantages of the flexibility allowed in bracketing a wide range of exposures and then blending them via layer and luminosity masking.

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Photo By: Landscapes of the Blue Ridge

Location: View Arnold Valley Overlook, Milepost 76.

A most fortunate time to be up on Thunder Ridge at the View Arnold Valley Overlook watching storms come through on 7/20/13.

Camera: Sony A580

Lens: Zeiss 16-35

ISO: 100

Aperture: f/22

Shutter: 5 exposures 1/8 thru 1/80

Exposure: manual and multiple

Focal Length: 24mm

Filters: none

How I Got This Shot

The parkway north of Roanoke lends itself to storm photography with the road running the ridge and storms having a lengthy crossing of the Great Valley. I saw them on the radar and got moving, upon arrival on the ridge saw 2 storms and chased them from MP 100 all the way to 75, trying to get lightning shots. There were cloudy skies mixed with sun all around and 2 confined storm events following one another up the valley. Thunder Ridge, near Virginia’s parkway highpoint, is where the best action occurred. This is where the storms crossed the Blue Ridge and it made for some varied and active scenes in the sky. In the photo I caught a clearing with a light beam in between the 2 rain plumes.

I almost always use a tripod and remote shutter, and typically shoot 4 or more exposure brackets in RAW. I am a “post process” fan using Photoshop CS-6 most often manually blending exposures using luminosity and layer masking to attempt creating the most realistic scenes as seen by the eye. I no longer use HDR software. I will be offering Photoshop tutoring in the Roanoke, VA area…visit my Facebook page Landscapes of the Blue Ridge.

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