As US441 climbs the long shoulder of Thomas Divide in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, rising from the steep-sided valley of Beech Flats Prong into the high country, it is possible to look back and see the lower reaches of Mt. Kephart come into relief. As I made this climb one mid-October morning last year, it occurred to me that I was witnessing some of the most amazing fall color I had seen in these mountains in the past twenty years. Perhaps it was due in part to the fact that the reds and yellows and oranges were all peaking at nearly the same time, and the maples were in sync with the other species rather than being ahead of them. It was an awesome spectacle. I stopped about midway up the ascent and found an open angle though which I could frame part of one of the spur ridges descending from Thomas Divide in the foreground and right side of the image. Using the triangles thus created allowed me to establish a sense of flow back up into the mid- and backgrounds and into the counter-posed spurs off Mt. Kephart. It was all about color and line, in which the lowering clouds added a touch of mood. A focal length of 117mm allowed the angle of view I wanted and provided just enough telephoto compression of the scene to establish the relationships among the elements. An aperture of f/16 provided depth-of-field. A shutter speed of 0.4 second at ISO 200 gave me a fast-enough shutter time to prevent the wafting breeze from creating a blurring of the foreground foliage. Tsali would have loved it.
Beautiful, beautiful lines, colors and life. Magic paint brush flowing, Tsali still travels those hills and rejoices. Thanks, Don.
I really enjoyed this image. I felt like the foreground was highlighting the contents of what was in the backgound. Normally an image will only reveal one. Well done.
Just beautiful…as always
Good morning Everyone. Thank you all for joining me for this Image. We have had a couple inches of rain over the past 72 hours, so the colors for this year may begin to show themselves more vigorously; and, who knows, we may yet see something to remind us of 2014. Pat, I’m always glad when you join us, and like you the lines I saw were both narrowly and broadly defined, and filled with color everywhere. It was a magical morning, indeed. Hey John, thanks for your thoughtful comments and kind words. What I felt being there was that there was a very real relationship between the foreground trees/colors and the mid-ground ridge, which then carried through to the misty background, “highlighting the contents” as you expressed it. And just the proper amount of telephoto compression was what really made it apparent. Karen, thank you very much for joining us and for your kind comments. I’m trusting that your journey to Oklahoma was pleasant. It was a pleasure having you with me at Arrowmont, and if I can slip back into my “teacher hat” just briefly; keep practicing…and enjoy the beauty of a plains autumn. I’ll wave when I pass through Henryetta.