Chasing the Morning Light

Out along the smokies you can occasionally find yourself looking out along the endless rolling mountains. The light begins to build, the clouds begin to build. Not form the sky, not form afar, but lifting from the forest floor, slowly reaching higher, and higher. Creating an evolving picture of a sea of clouds. As the light peaks up over the mountains, illuminating contours and crevices, the sky begins to turn from blue, to orange. In a fleeting moment you watch the sky blend light and dark, and before you fully comprehend what just happened you are amazed at what is left behind. Sometimes, even rarely, you can see that brief moment linger long enough to get a photo of the mixing sky. Soon you may finding yourself chasing the morning light again.

Sunrise is a difficult time of day for me to photograph, but I’ve rarely been disappointed with the results. On this occasion I was looking for a different sort of morning scene, but it became apparent that It wasn’t going to happen on this morning. I began heading home, then in a moment of indecision I opted to travel the opposite direction and perhaps find the scene on another ridge. While that didn’t happen, I am no less impressed with how this image turned out.

For the edit, we played with the idea of mixing light in the sky. Deepening the shadows where the clouds weren’t illuminated by the rising sun yet, and then cooling it off just a touch, then doing the opposite on the other side. Mixing contrast, and light, then balancing my colors so they weren’t overpowering, but just inside the realm of possibility. Then I began to dodge and burn, making small adjustments until I found a happy medium. You want to make a difference, but you don’t want to overdo it. I often find that your first instinct in an edit is about twice as much as you need to make an impact.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f8
ISO: 320
SS: 1/15th
Focal: 56mm

Fujinon 50-140mm