Location: Cowee Mountains Overlook, Milepost 430.7 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina
Crepuscular rays form for a brief moment.
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
Focal Length: 35mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/200 – 1/100 – 1/50 – 1/25 – 1/13
Aperture: f/11
Filters: B+W Polarizer
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: I drove past here earlier and went to Looking Glass Rock Overlook, but it was mostly in fog, so I came back and parked here and waited. I saw the clouds setting up when the sun went behind and got this. In about 15 seconds it was gone. This is 5 bracketed frames (1 stop exposure increments) merged into a 32 bit HDR TIF in Adobe Photoshop CC, then adjusted in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.
The camera was on a tripod. I used a cable release and mirror lockup for the exposures. The lens was on manual focus (MF) and I focus in Live View with the lens aperture at f/2.8 on Aperture Priority (Av). I magnify the view to 10x and pick my desired area to focus. Once it’s set, I close LV and put the camera back to Manual mode (where f/11 is set). This way I don’t have to dial my aperture back and forth. Everything stays put and I’m ready to go.
For More Information
- Additional photographs by John MacLean Photography
- Categories where this photo is found: Mountain Horizons, Overlook Views, Sunrises & Sunsets