This was another view of the sunrise from the top of Blood Mountain on the Appalachin trail. This was a very exciting hike, when we got to the top, I was very afraid the sunrise was not going to be as good as predicted. Thank goodness, it turned out good. Otherwise, a long up hill hike would have turned into something other than planned. But, I thought it worked out well.
So, today has been havoc and I have not even had the time to think about what to write here, let alone think of processing images. But, I have to confess, I was able to get a few photos today while racing around.
This image comes from my flower garden. I was fortunate enough the other day to have been graced with some very heavy morning fog. Dew was on everything giving it a glowing soft appearance. Things just fell into place. That was until I arrived late for the morning meeting I was going to. They just don’t understand (exasperated sigh).
I am usually an early riser. I love the way things are quite and calm first thing in the morning just before sunrise. You can sit quietly and hear the world wake up. I really enjoy it when it is a foggy morning. Although the sun is rising and the world is waking up, you can only hear it. This morning was very foggy. So, I grabbed the camera and had a little fun.
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ave you checked out Instagram yet? If you have not, it is a must have. I downloaded it to the iPhone today. So far, I have only found one downside, only 15 in app filters. However, they appear to be very open with their API and other camera apps are picking up in that area; one notable is 100camerasin1. Instagram is easy to use, fast and it connects with facebook, flickr and twitter. Check me out on instagram I am @darylclark.
The jury is still out on whether I like the east coast or the west coast better. I really love the size and vastness of everything on the west coast / west of the Mississippi, but I love the gentleness of the eastern mountains. This was another shot from the top of Blood Mountain. You can really see why it’s called the Blueridge Mountains.
I have been posting photos on several Flickr groups and have gotten some good feed back. If you have not checked out my flickr stream, it’s on the right. I was reading some posts over at Tim Stanley Photography and it made me think. I love landscape photography, but conditions are not always what I want, which makes it difficult to focus on photography sometimes. However, Tim was talking about focusing on the smaller things instead of the mountain views. I did not think much about that until later when I was taking sunset photos. I began to think of some of the small things around, which may be good photos. I will post some experiments in “finding the small things” soon. Lesson learned: look at the small things as well as the big picture.
This is the southwestern view from the top of Springer Mountain. I loves how the fog was still hanging in the valleys below waiting for the sunrise.
I took the day off from photography. Well not completely, I took some photos. However, I decided to spend my time on the river today. Unfortunately, cameras and water are not the best of friends. So tonights post shall be short.
I just love the first rays of sun. Sitting in the dark and then..light. Especially when I get to see it from some place as beautiful as the top of a mountain. What is you favorite time of the day?
I was driving to work today when I had a sudden thought of somethings to do additionally during my workflow. My typical shots are handheld, 3 exposures, -2 to +2 and not much time to take them. Sometimes, when I am in a hurry, I do not have time to capture the entire dynamic range. One of the problems I have had with HDR processing is having a blown out sun; the center is pure white. I don’t know about you, but I have never seen a pure white sun devoid of color. So, enter the clone tool. I was able to take the edges of the sun and clone them across the white area and blend it back in.
The Road Home
Okay, so this was on the way away from home, not to home…well unless you are traveling the other way and then it would be the road home. Anyways, I have a fascination with these gates and have begun keeping a series on them. This was sunrise just a few days ago. Too bad I don’t get to do this all the time as a real job…maybe some day.
probably my favorite times to take photos are at sunrise and sunset. My day job requires that I am up before dawn almost everyday. So, on my way to work, I happen to see some of the prettiest sunrises. Due to my limited time in the mornings, I usually take these handheld instead of with the tripod. It is amazing I ever make it to work.
It is so humid around here that it has become difficult to take sunset photos. I can’t wait until this fall. Sunrise and sunset seem to be more colorful in the fall and winter here. Is it that way everywhere?
This was probably one of the most fun sunrise photos I have taken in a long time. Awake at 0230, on the road at 0300, at the trail-head at 0500. Began hiking just after 0500 and at the top of Blood Mountain at just after 0600. Blood Mountain is the highest peak on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. We started the hike at approximately 3000 feet and made it to just shy of 4500 feet. 2 miles, 1500 feet and a beautiful sunrise.
I told you I would give at least a teaser photo. This one was shot from the top of Blood Mountain on the Appalachin trail in North Georgia. For this shot, I woke at 0230. I can see how it would take a very short time for a dedicated sunrise photographer to go absolutely insane. However, the experience was well worth it. Now I am going to begin sharing it with you.
