Morning at the Dome

Magical mornings in the mountains mid spring are always worth getting up a little early for. This particular shot was taken a half hour before Sunrise on May 8th 2021, but oddly I opted to pass on it in my original sweep through those morning images. Looking back now I can’t help but be captured by the simple beauty here, Clingmans dome and the foreground trees just inside of focus, while everything leading out from there becomes softer, and more painting esque. This is not a technical masterpiece, I didn’t intend to create a soft focus here, yet here it sits and it reminds me of storybook art, and a return to innocence.

I remember this morning like it was yesterday, cold, a light breeze on the frigid air. When I put this photo together, you couldn’t see the horizon line clearly. I believed this light was by far the more beautiful. The photo in this session I originally edited came later, was much sharper yet none of this simple pastel magic, none of the soft focus elements seen here. It’s strange looking back at photos you had once relegated to sit on a bulk drive alone, breathing new life into them, new perspective.

So, lets talk about soft focus, this was shot at 50mm, or roughly 75mm in FF terms, at f2.8. I used a flashlight on the trees bellow to pull focus, and shot the scene just to see if I could bring it all together. This isn’t a technique I typically use in landscape, typically you want everything razor sharp. Here though, with the mood and light it works for me.

Until Next Time!

ISO: 160
Aperture: f2.8
SS: 2.5 Secs
Focal: 50mm

Fujinon 50-140mm