Even the winter, leafless environment of the Smokies High Country cannot deny the awesome beauty of a Luftee Overlook sunrise. During mid-February~early-March the sun comes over the mountain almost straight down the valley of Beech Flats Prong; and when there are atmospherics to accompany the light, magic is almost assured - unless, of course, there is complete overcast, but even then there is something beautiful. In a broken sky of moving clouds, the God-beams spread and move like horses on a carousel, or ballerinas on an endless stage. On Friday morning Bonnie and I were there, having seen a promising forecast the day before. At first we thought the overcast might be too dense, but we have learned patience from experience and so we waited. It was worth the wait. The heavens began to dance and our hearts soared. In this particular selection, a focal length of 180mm was the angle of view I wanted. Given the camera-to-subject distance, I knew that f/16 would provide depth-of-field, and with a shutter speed of 0.8 second (to slow the motion in the clouds) at ISO 100, I had an overall somewhat darker-than-medium exposure. The place where Thomas Divide breaks from the Smokies Crest is as awesome a location to create sunrise beauty as any I know. Next week I'll share another of the images created during our morning at Luftee.
