Although the Foothills Parkway West is not technically within the boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it is a unit of the Department of the Interior and is administered by the National Park Service. From the Miller’s Cove Overlook along this road early morning views of the lower ridges within the Park, highlighted by the rising sun, can often be special.
A focal length of 300mm, somewhere in the midst of medium-telephotoland, gave me the reduced angle-of-view, magnification and compression that reflected what I saw in my mind’s eye. An aperture of f/20 from the camera-to-subject distance gave me enough depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 0.6 second at ISO 100 gave me an overall somewhat darker-than-medium exposure.
There are as many ways to create images in early light as there are focal length ranges with which to see and compose images, from extreme wide-angle to very long telephoto. How you create becomes a function of how the land speaks to you. Allow it to speak freely – without unnecesssary predisposition – and you will hear all of the ways in which it can communicate with you.
Beautiful shot. I sure do miss getting down there.
Hey Chris. It’s always good to have you with us. I hope you and Sue are safe and well. Thank you so much for your kind words. I certainly wish for you a very soon time when you will be able to return to these old mountains to exercise your creative being. They are very special and their capacity to charm and encourage is without peer. We are looking forward to sharing some of our special places in the Southwest with you before very long.
Thanks for this image and advice. Later this week I will be driving from AZ back to IL, stopping Thursday afternoon at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico, to catch the late afternoon, sunset, and last light. I’ll try to open my mind, to let the land and the light speak freely to me.
Hi Donald. I know you are probably on the road to Chicago, so I thought I would respond to your comment sooner than later. Have a pleasant and safe journey, my Friend. I have always appreciated the openness of your mind to receive all things that offer benefit to your creative spirit. That the land and the light will offer to you their thoughts on these matters, I have no doubt. Enjoy the journey and take good care.
Walk in Beauty.
Gorgeous image, Don!
Hi Melissa. Thank you so much for being with us and for your kind comment. I guess that’s one of the great joys of living in this wonderful part of the world – to have ready access to such wonderful locations as this. Take good care and stay safe.
So beautiful, Don
Hey Lynne. Thanks so much for taking the time to offer your thoughtful words. I am deeply honored to receive your kindness. Looking forward to seeing you and John on Sunday.
Your image shows why I love living in the mountains.
Hi David. Thank you very much for joining us for this conversation. I know exactly how you feel. As long as I am in these old hills, my heart is at peace and love is the only word that adequately describes the feeling in my heart. Enjoy the words of connection that they offer you. Walk in Beauty.
Thank you, Don … for this glorious image and your wisdom. Love & Hugs
Ah Patricia; what an emotional roller coaster this week has given us. Thank you so very much for offering your words of encouragement and for the faith you express in my art and work. I do very much hope that we will have a chance to visit in the current year somewhere in this wonderful and beautiful land. I hope you and Sue are safe and well, and you continue to have fulfilling opportunities to express your creative passions. Walk in Beauty, Dear One.
Thanks, again, Everyone for joining me for this conversation. As you All very well know, the elements of this composition are relatively basic and simple: lines, shapes, a pattern – nothing particularly complex. There are two aspects that are very much worth recognizing – the focal length selected and the time of day, which is to say the light. The focal length allowed me to isolate the elements and further, to compress them and to engender some magnification in them. The focal length allowed me to direct your attention to what I wanted you to focus on (no pun intended); but it is surely the light that makes the image here: the early, cloud-softened, warm illumination that takes the elements and makes of them something to notice.
I say this because it is always a combination of the light and the elements chosen on which to shine that light, as it were, that arouses interest in our viewers and creates something in visual space worth paying attention to. This is true no matter the nature of the elements chosen, nor the nature of the light used to illuminate the chosen elements.Photography: to write with light.
Have an excellent week and Walk in Beauty.