Ferrin Knob Tunnel

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This photo was taken about an hour before sunrise on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just south of Asheville NC.

Laurel Mill at Night

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I have dreamed of this photo for months and months, finally I was able to make it happen! I first discovered Laurel Mill using Google Maps last summer. I made one trip out to attempt to photograph it and was disheartened to find “No Trespassing” signs all over. As I’ve stated before, as a professional photographer I believe it is important to respect other peoples property, so I decided not to shoot it that night. After some research, I was able to find the address of the owner and wrote him a letter. To my surprise, he actually called me back and gave me permission to shoot there anytime. Now I just had to wait for the right night – clear skies. I finally got the opportunity last Friday night…

The sky is a blend of around 225 exposures, each at 30 seconds long. The foreground (water and mill) is a single exposure that is 2 minutes long. There was no moon and the road was too far away for car lights to light the mill. I had to do the 2 minute exposure to get a foreground with enough detail and light. I was beginning to get worried that the mist rising from the water due to the exceptionally cool evening would fog the lens or ruin the scene. Instead, I think it adds a nice softness to that area of the image. Exposure details are below.

Sky
Blend of 225 exposures.
f2.8
30 seconds
ISO 1600

Foreground
f2.8
122 seconds
ISO 3200

The foreground was photographed first, followed immediately by the 200+ sky exposures.

Carolina Night

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I found another great looking old house last night. This one near Coats, NC.

This photo consists of 169 30-second exposures. Facing east, the stars are rising from behind the house.  The house and land is lit with a combination of moonlight and headlights from passing cars over the 1.5 hour time.

1600 ISO, f4.0, 16mm, 30 seconds x169

I will not give out the exact location of this one as I was approached by the owner while shooting here last night. After briefly explaining what I was doing, he was nice enough to allow me to continue. There are a lot of photographers that wouldn’t hesitate at trespassing to get a photo, but I will just not do that. I was shooting from the road, and was respectful of their property. There was a “No Trespassing” sign up and I don’t want to be responsible for other photographers showing up.

 

Hope you enjoy!

Looking for Clear Skies…

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It’s actually been more than a month since I’ve been behind my camera. I headed out last night to photograph star trails around rural North Carolina. All day long the Weather Chanel app said there would be clear skies all night. I’ve got a couple locations in mind that I want to photograph at night once the skies get cold and clear. This was one of them, but the weather didn’t cooperate. I’ll be back to this location, as well as others like it this winter, to photograph long star trails. Until then, I’ll settle for this moody black and white image.

To see a color version, click here

Hope you enjoy.

LeConte Cabin at Night

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Almost the entire time that I was on Mt LeConte we were engulfed in a cloud/fog/mist/rain. By chance, my young daughter woke me around 4:30 because she had to go to the bathroom. I got up to take her to the bathrooms (they are separate from the cabins) and as soon as we stepped outside, we both looked up in awe. It was so crystal clear, and there were so many  stars visible. After I got her back in bed, I grabbed my camera and went back out. It only lasted for about 10-15 minutes after getting my camera, but I had enough time to take this photo of our cabin with the incredible night sky overhead. Soon the stars were gone and we were back in the fog, and all the “normal” people who were sleeping at 4:30am missed it…

 

How the cabin is lit: Directly behind me was the dining hall. There were already several people working there that morning with a couple of lanterns. The rest of the light is coming from Gatlinburg, far below but visible from the lodge.

Raven’s Roost at Night

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(Looks better if you click on it!)

Many of you may remember my “Buzzard’s Roost at night” image, taken at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee (Seen below). Today, I’ve prepared a new similar image – “Raven’s Roost at Night”. This one was taken at the Raven’s Roost overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Lyndhurst, Virginia.

“Raven’s Roost at Night” is a combination of more than 160 photos, taken continually and merged together in post. The tree and the rocks were lit with a handheld flash fired manually several times from different locations. We are looking west in this image, so the stars appear to be streaking downward as they circle around the North Star, which is off to the right of the image. The colors in the sky is light pollution from nearby cities, reflecting into the clouds.

Hope you enjoy!

 

_MG_3150-Edit

Abandoned Church at Night

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A small church stands abandoned in a field.

This is about 1 hour 20 minutes worth of exposures to capture the motion in the stars. Facing south, the stars made a nice arc right over the church.

 

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