Sometimes as a photographer you can see a shot in your head but you can never quite get it to work out. This is especially true for landscape photographers who deal with a lot of variables that go into each shot. Sometimes the clouds just aren’t right, sometimes the subject matter doesn’t cooperate, or sometimes the leaves fall off too early. That has been the case for me more than once, certainly a strange problem to have.
Flat Rock at milepost 308 on the Blue Ridge Parkway is a special place for me. I have witnessed many a sunset there, been on a very important first date with my now wife there, and taken my son there. In fact, he was with me the night I finally got the shot I’ve been looking for for many years.
I tried for the first time this year on October 7th. A few clouds were moving in and I wanted to capture them with a few particular trees in the background. Unfortunately, in a fit of extremely bad timing, the clouds arrived just in time to block the sunset rather than be lit up above me. I still got a decent shot, but the trees below me just weren’t lit up quite like I imagined.
The next couple of days brought work for me and clear skies for the weather. Clear skies are certainly the dream of any hiker or outdoor adventurer in most cases, but for a sunset photographer like myself they just don’t hold a candle to a good sunset full of color in the sky.
Fortunately, on October 10th things worked out just right.
I left work a little early and ran home to grab my 18 month old son. He is too young to really understand what’s going on, but he enjoys heading out with me and has learned to push the button that makes the camera take the shot. I sat him down close to me and kept him occupied with a toy while I set up the shot.
We watched as the sun slowly sank.
I adjusted the camera settings and he pushed the little silver capture button.
Just as the sun got to the horizon, the shot in my head materialized in front of me. The feeling of the shot coming to you is something I can’t quite explain. The sun lit up the clouds above as it reflected off the red and yellow leaves below me, briefly painting a magical scene over the landscape.
There is an old saying that goes “as above, so below.” This saying has been used throughout history to describe a number of things pertaining to Heaven and Earth. In this case, the beauty of the heavens is reflected in the Earth.
Ansel Adams once said “There are two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” For me there are three: myself, my son and you. I hope this picture makes you feel “away,” as someone told me when they saw it.
Have a great week, and perhaps I’ll see you on the trail (in Almost Heaven, West Virginia I hope)….
