Location: Boone Fork Parking Area MP300
A wet and cold morning along Boone Fork Creek made for beautiful photography weather. Captured 10/13/13

Camera: Nikon D7100
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Focal Length: 16mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 6 Seconds
Aperture: f/16
Filters: Marumi Super DHG Circular Polarizer 77mm
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: This is one of those shots that test you as a photographer. While not technically difficult, the weather was very poor. It was chilly and there was a misty rain that made everything extremely slick. For me, an overcast day is idea to photograph water when a tree canopy is involved. I have super dense neutral density filters that will allow me to get a long exposures during bright sun, but no filter will fix the uneven lighting that is the result from sun shining through a tree canopy.

I setup up my tripod for a low angle. One side of the creek was in shadow, so I chose to compose the shot with the white cascade on the left, balancing the play between dark and light. There were many colorful leaves on the ground, but I included some of the yellowing trees in the distance to give a sense of when this photo was taken.

Because EVERYTHING was shiny things to the nagging rain, I used a Mariumi Super DHG Poalarizer to cut the reflections. This was a must have piece of equipment in this case.

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Location: Rough Ridge MP303, a popular trail in the High Country of North Carolina.
The morning sun kisses Grandfather Mountain, causing him to blush. View From Rough Ridge. Captured 10/21/13.

Camera: Nikon D7100
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Focal Length: 11mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 3 Seconds
Aperture: f/16
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: Sun was just beginning to crest the mountains behind me, bathing Grandfather Mountain in pink light. Fog had made its way up the ridge line, enhancing the effect. The even lighting on the nearby trees made the colors pop. I used the rocks below to give a since of where I was standing.

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Location: Boone Fork Trail, Milepost 296 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, North Carolina.
Boone Fork Creek races by after a big cascade.

Camera: Nikon D7100
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Focal Length: 11mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1 second
Aperture: f/16
Filters: Marumi Super DHG Circular Polarizer 77mm
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: Getting low was key for this shot. My tripod was about as low as it’d go without some modification, but then the legs of the tripod would have been in the water, and I didn’t want to risk the current causing camera shake. I was perched precariously on a small rock just behind the camera. I used a cable release to release the shutter without disturbing the camera. A Marumi Super DHG Circular Polarizer was used to kill some of the glare on the wet rocks. Sun was peeking in and out behind clouds, so I had to wait until the sun was completely blocked to get even lighting and keep my shutter speed long enough to capture the movement of the water.

There are many spots like this all along Boone Fork Trail. Don’t be afraid to get wet in order to find the best composition, but take extreme care. The rocks are deceptively slick and in places the current is strong enough to sweep you away. There is also a healthy snake population along the creek, so take a good look around as you move from rock to rock. Hiking poles can be extremely helpful here.

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Location: Bass Lake Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, Milepost 294 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock.
A crisp autumn morning at Bass Lake, Moses H. Cone Memorial Park. Captured 10/6/2013

Camera: Nikon D7100
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Focal Length: 16mm
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/20
Aperture: f/16
Filters: Marumi Super DHG Circular Polarizer 77mm
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: I did my best to compose this scene so that it is balanced. Our eye is drawn to whatever is brightest in a scene (or darkest, if your photo is mostly bright!). In this case, the brightest area of the photo is the radiant sunrise. That is made the left side of the scene very heavy. Think of it like a scale. Something needs to be put on the right side to bring the scene into balance. Here, I’ve used the the island to do just that.

I think it is also helpful that the treetops on the island broke up the treeline running along the lake shore. The idea is that the eye will look at the bright, misty sunrise first, then follow the gradual ascent of treetops to the right until it dead stops on the island interrupting the line.

Everything else about this photo are just basics. If you want calm water and a sky like this, be there when the sun rises. No amount of Photoshop or filters will turn a midday shot into this. You have to do the hard work of getting up early and setting up just as the sun crest the treeline.

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Location: Bass Lake, Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, Milepost 294
The sun illuminates the rising mist from the surface of Bass Lake.

Camera: Nikon D7100
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Focal Length: 16mm
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/10
Aperture: f/16
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: One “secret” about shooting into the sun is to use your LCD display rather than the viewfinder. This allows you to explore various compositions at your leisure without the nasty side effect or blindness.

The sun was extremely low in the sky. This photo was captured just as it had crest the treeline. To get the sharp spikey bits on the sun, use a relatively small aperture. Here, I used f/16. Experiment to see how aperture affects the spikey bits. By the way, this effect can be recreated with other light sources.

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Date Taken: 08/13/2015
Location: Price Lake, Milepost 296.7
I spent a couple hours early this morning capturing the Perseid meteor shower over Grandfather Mountain. A thin layer of fog drifted across a placid Price Lake as one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time played out above. Here’s one of the stronger meteors streaking across Milky Way.

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Date Taken: 01/07/2014
Location: Beacon Heights, Milepost 305
Stars over Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina as viewed from the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was around 6F degrees when I captured this shot. I had to keep moving to stay warm, but I think the effort was worth it. What do you think?

Camera: Canon 6D
Lens: Canon 24-105mm f/4L
Focal Length: 24mm
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 20 seconds
Aperture: f/4
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: I used the LCD screen on the back of my camera to find stars. Once I found one, I zoomed in (using the LCD, not lens) and manually focused. I know that at 24mm on my camera, I need to use a shutter speed of 20 seconds to prevent capturing movement of the stars. I then used ISO to adjust how bright I wanted the scene to be. From there, it’s just like shooting any landscape!

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Date Taken: 12/02/2013
Location: Rough Ridge, Milepost 303
I captured this photo of Hawksbill and Table Rock while waiting for the sun to rise at Rough Ridge. Our leaves may be gone, but our mountains are as blue as ever!I captured this photo of Hawksbill and Table Rock while waiting for the sun to rise at Rough Ridge. Our leaves may be gone, but our mountains are as blue as ever!

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Date Taken: 12/13/2014
Location: Sim’s Pond
A car races by a placid Sim’s Pond under the stars.

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Date Taken: 12/02/2013
Location: Rough Ridge, Milepost 303
A glorious golden sunrise as seen from Rough Ridge area of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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