Date Taken: 03/31/2016
Location: Thunderstruck Ridge Overlook, Milepost 455 on the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor 70-210 f/4
Focal Length: 82mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/13 s
Aperture: f/8
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: This image was cut and dried – it was all a matter of execution. A rainstorm had just passed through at sunset, leaving a silvery-blue fog and mist in the valleys and even light. I had to hurry though while there was still some daylight left, so I set my Nikon D2X on a sturdy tripod, shooting “mirror up” (Mup on the selection dial) and using a remote shutter as well. In this mode, I tap the shutter once to lift the mirror, and again to open and close the shutter. This, along with the use of a remote shutter, helps minimize camera shake and vibration for maximum sharpness. Also, the f/8 aperture seems to be the sweet spot on the D2X for maximum depth of field from edge to edge, as its crop sensor is diffraction limited in comparison to newer cameras. The autofocus is brutally fast and accurate, even in low light, and I focused on a spot about 1/3 into the image from the bottom, again to help with sharpness and depth of field. At full resolution, there is a remarkable amount of detail throughout. On the farthest mountain in the distance, you can clearly make out the two antennas on top, even though that mountain is some twenty miles away – the ability of this ancient camera to pick up subtle details like this (with the right lens) is one reason why I still carry it in my bag, despite the newer technology out there. In the right conditions and with the right technique, the images from this camera look as good as, if not better than, many newer, higher resolution cameras.

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Visit our guide site, www.virtualblueridge.com, for a complete list of overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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Date Taken: 10/13/2016
Location: Rough Ridge Trail, Milepost 302.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the High Country of North Carolina.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4
Focal Length: 17mm
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/50
Aperture: f/11
Filters: HiTech 4 stop graduated ND filter
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: This image was a tough one to capture. I arrived at Rough Ridge Parking Area (milepost 302.8) to catch a sunrise with some fall foliage sprinkled in. I made the short hike from the parking area, up a staircase and to an opening where I was exposed to some brutal winds – gusts well over 40 MPH, occasionally knocking me and my camera off balance. A tripod (a heavy, durable one) is a must here. I originally set up to shoot some distant images of the fog way off in the distance with a telephoto lens, but the wind oscillated my lens to the point where I couldn’t get a sharp image, even at a higher ISO speed. Then the sun rose; and I switched to my ultrawide Tamron lens, using the staircase as a focal point and a leading line to the rising sun. I boosted my ISO speed to 800 – a sensitivity I rarely, if ever, use. But it was crucial here with the high winds and low light. I had to freeze the blowing branches and foliage in front of me, otherwise they’d be blurry from a slow shutter speed. Also, with a high contrast scene, I had to use a graduated ND filter to hold back the bright sky while projecting the foreground. At 1/50 of a second and at 17mm, with an aperture of f/11, and using the aforementioned graduated ND filter, I was able to control depth of field, capture everything I wanted in the scene, expose the image properly, all the while ensuring there wouldn’t be much, if any, blurring of the colorful leaves or branches in my foreground. In post-processing I was able to remove the modest amount of noise present from the high ISO speed, while doing my usual developments for contrast, color, luminance, clarity, and a quick smart sharpening pass in Photoshop. The end result came mighty close to what I saw with my own eyes, given the limitations of my gear.

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Date Taken: 05/03/2016
Location: Waterrock Knob, Milepost 451.2

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Date Taken: 10/16/2016
Location: Woolyback Overlook, Milepost 452.3 on the Blue Ridge Parkway

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Visit our Blue Ridge Parkway Guide for a compete list of Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks.

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Date Taken: 10/03/2016
Location: Woolyback Overlook, Milepost 452.3 on the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor 70-210 f/4
Focal Length: 145mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/40s
Aperture: f/8
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: Sometimes when shooting a vast scene, as I did Monday on the Parkway near Cherokee, it sometimes can be more effective to zoom in with a telephoto lens to capture a small part of a larger scene for better effect. Since this view of vivid light rays was far off in the distance, I zoomed in considerably (to the equivalent of 218mm, if my Nikon D2X were a full frame camera) to compose the fading light as it beamed over Clingman’s Dome some fifteen miles away. Using a tripod at this focal length, with a slow shutter speed (1/40 of a second), is critical here for maximum sharpness.

I composed the scene so that the brightest light would take up the upper third of the image, with the layered mountains gradually darkening as you look to the lower two-thirds of the image, for a sense of depth. I metered my camera for the brightest part of the light and shot away, adjusting my shutter speed for the light without overexposing (using the histogram on your camera is very important here! Expose to the right!). I needed no filter since I was confident the light I was exposing for was enough to convey what I saw perfectly; and as such, developing the image to convey what I saw with my own eyes was quite simple.

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There are over 200 overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 469 miles.

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Date Taken: 10/06/2016
Location: Approximately milepost 419 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Graveyard Fields

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikkor 18-70 DX
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/40s
Aperture: f/8
Filters: Nikon Circular Polarizer, HiTech 4 stop graduated ND filter
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: As I was driving the highest elevations of the Parkway Thursday, I kept looking out for scenes compelling enough to show both the Parkway and the developing fall foliage around it. Just before Graveyard Fields I found the shot I was looking for, so I set up my ancient yet trusty Nikon D2X on a tripod (important when shooting at slower shutter speeds!), adjusting the circular polarizer filter on my lens to help reduce glare on the foliage from the mid-day sun (very important!) and used a graduated neutral density filter to help control the sky while keeping my foreground properly exposed. Since my remote shutter is on the fritz, I used a five second shutter delay to minimize camera vibration.

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Date Taken: 08/10/2016
Location: Woolyback Overlook, Milepost 452.3

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Date Taken: 08/30/2016
Location: Milepost 454, near Hornbuckle Valley Overlook

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Location: Looking Glass Rock Overlook, Milepost 417
The morning sun peeks over the cloud line at Looking Glass Rock Overlook near milepost 417.

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Nikkor 18-105
Focal Length: 26mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/15
Aperture: f/10
Filters: graduated ND filter
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: My original intention Sunday morning (October 6) was to shoot a sunrise at Black Balsam then mill about Graveyard Fields, but fog and clouds engulfed Black Balsam, so I decided to drive down the Parkway a bit further to Looking Glass Rock overlook and try to salvage something. Luckily I arrived just in time for the rising sun to peek over the distant cloud line. I used a graduated neutral density filter to hold back the sky and balance the exposure. I set the hard edge of the filter along the cloud line. The shutter speed (1/15) dictated my use of a tripod in shooting this scene. In composing it, I placed the sun at upper middle left with Looking Glass Rock at lower middle right, providing opposite points of focus with the nearby foliage giving a nice foreground.

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Date Taken: 03/25/2014
Location: Soco Falls, near milepost 456
A snowy Soco Falls, located near milepost 456, adjacent to Cherokee and Maggie Valley, NC.

Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Tokina AT-X Pro 12-24
Focal Length: 14mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/3 second
Aperture: f/22
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: I awoke this morning to a surprise – the original forecast of light, slushy snow totaling a half-inch became three heavy, wet inches when I looked out my window of my room in Maggie Valley. So naturally I wanted to explore, and I ventured just past the Parkway on US 19 to the popular-but-tricky-to-access Soco Falls. Tricky, because to get to the base requires rappelling on a flimsy rope down a steep, muddy, rocky drop off. Adding snow and ice to that equation only makes it trickier, but I made it without a hitch.

I tried a couple different compositions – one with the falls to the upper left and the cascading river flowing at bottom right (similar to the popular composition of Looking Glass Falls that many photographers use), and the other being a more straightforward composition, zooming in closer with the falls at center and the river flowing in the foreground. I chose the first composition as it seemed more compelling and eye pleasing.

Taking the image itself was fairly simple – after shooting a few frames with a circular polarizer, I removed it and shot without a filter. My camera’s meter was fooled a little by all the bright snow and suggested a quicker shutter speed, so I “overexposed” by two stops which brought the shutter speed in line with what I wanted – slow enough to capture movement, yet quick enough to retain texture in the water. I find either 1/3 or 1/4 second shutter speeds do that trick well.

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