Torn Sky

What a difference twenty minutes, and thirty feet can make. Crepuscular rays raced across the scene as the clouds dropped and strafed across the rolling hills of Appalachia. The sun just behind the clouds, illuminating the scene, allowing hot sparks of sun to shine down on the mountains bellow. This is what dreams are made of, why these mountains are considered a fairy tail. Some mythic construct, blue haze, thick relentless fog, under a torn sky, this is what dreams are made of. Deep in the wilderness, breathing that fresh mountain air, if not for the occasional visitor, you may yet be convinced you’ve left home for middle earth.

Twenty minutes, and thirty feet, what do I mean by that exactly? The previous photo in this blog is the same scene, just shot from further down the hill and twenty minutes later than this. I spent perhaps a bit too much time wandering the scene to find the good light, it wasn’t that I arrived late for sunset, I had plenty of time for that. The problem was I had arrived late for the clouds. That being said, it does give you a glimpse into the wonders of photography, only showing your viewers what you want them to see.

This edit was a bit convoluted, I did quite a bit of work here. Despite how this photo looks presently, the haze in this scene was overwhelming, and forced me to work overtime with my masking, and targeted adjustments, and just when I was convinced I had finished, I realized I was merely halfway home. This photo wasn’t easy to work with, it was a very high contrast scene, so I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the highlights and shadows to present this before you, however, I added a few extra things into the photo to push it home. There’s a slight vignetting, coupled with a radial filter in the center elevating some warmer tones, and a bit of brightness. Just enough to draw your eyes through the scene. If I could leave you with any lesson here, let it be this. Edit your photo for a little while, then take a break. Take several hours, or a whole day break, then come back and look at it again with fresh eyes, do this until you are satisfied with what you’re publishing.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f9
ISO: 160
SS: 1/200th
Focal: 35mm

Fujinon 16-55mm