Wiseman's Sunrise
So many of my images have a sense of serendipity to them. This image is a prime example.
While I had imagined and planned this image, and even scouted this location a few days prior, there was a bit of luck, initially disguised as misfortune, that allowed this final image to take place.
I had scouted Wiseman’s View, off of Old NC105 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a few afternoon’s prior to this, and had loved the view looking down this stairway to one of the two viewpoints. At the time, the light wasn’t right, and I knew that I would need to return at sunrise to capture what I really wanted.
I planned my outing for a Monday morning as I figured few souls would be willing to be up early enough on a Monday for sunrise at this location. I set my alarm for 3:45am, drove the 2-hours and arrived 45 minutes prior to sunrise, to find a couple already setup on this viewpoint with a camp stove. They had camped nearby, and decided to have a romantic breakfast with a sunrise view. It appeared my planned shot wasn’t going to happen.
I instead went to the other view point, and spent sunrise getting fantastic images of Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountains across the valley.
After the sunrise had finished, the small crowd of viewers and photographers left, and I started to pack up my gear. Before I left, I decided to walk up to the top of the stairs and look down, just to see how it looked. As I did, the sun popped through a cloud, and gave one last brilliant show of light, illuminating the leaves through the trees. The light show lasted less than 45-seconds, long enough for me to get two quick shots. I knew instantly that this was going to be my favorite shot of the morning, and I couldn’t wait to get home and get the image up on my computer.
So many of my images have a sense of serendipity to them. This image is a prime example.
While I had imagined and planned this image, and even scouted this location a few days prior, there was a bit of luck, initially disguised as misfortune, that allowed this final image to take place.
I had scouted Wiseman’s View, off of Old NC105 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a few afternoon’s prior to this, and had loved the view looking down this stairway to one of the two viewpoints. At the time, the light wasn’t right, and I knew that I would need to return at sunrise to capture what I really wanted.
I planned my outing for a Monday morning as I figured few souls would be willing to be up early enough on a Monday for sunrise at this location. I set my alarm for 3:45am, drove the 2-hours and arrived 45 minutes prior to sunrise, to find a couple already setup on this viewpoint with a camp stove. They had camped nearby, and decided to have a romantic breakfast with a sunrise view. It appeared my planned shot wasn’t going to happen.
I instead went to the other view point, and spent sunrise getting fantastic images of Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountains across the valley.
After the sunrise had finished, the small crowd of viewers and photographers left, and I started to pack up my gear. Before I left, I decided to walk up to the top of the stairs and look down, just to see how it looked. As I did, the sun popped through a cloud, and gave one last brilliant show of light, illuminating the leaves through the trees. The light show lasted less than 45-seconds, long enough for me to get two quick shots. I knew instantly that this was going to be my favorite shot of the morning, and I couldn’t wait to get home and get the image up on my computer.
So many of my images have a sense of serendipity to them. This image is a prime example.
While I had imagined and planned this image, and even scouted this location a few days prior, there was a bit of luck, initially disguised as misfortune, that allowed this final image to take place.
I had scouted Wiseman’s View, off of Old NC105 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a few afternoon’s prior to this, and had loved the view looking down this stairway to one of the two viewpoints. At the time, the light wasn’t right, and I knew that I would need to return at sunrise to capture what I really wanted.
I planned my outing for a Monday morning as I figured few souls would be willing to be up early enough on a Monday for sunrise at this location. I set my alarm for 3:45am, drove the 2-hours and arrived 45 minutes prior to sunrise, to find a couple already setup on this viewpoint with a camp stove. They had camped nearby, and decided to have a romantic breakfast with a sunrise view. It appeared my planned shot wasn’t going to happen.
I instead went to the other view point, and spent sunrise getting fantastic images of Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountains across the valley.
After the sunrise had finished, the small crowd of viewers and photographers left, and I started to pack up my gear. Before I left, I decided to walk up to the top of the stairs and look down, just to see how it looked. As I did, the sun popped through a cloud, and gave one last brilliant show of light, illuminating the leaves through the trees. The light show lasted less than 45-seconds, long enough for me to get two quick shots. I knew instantly that this was going to be my favorite shot of the morning, and I couldn’t wait to get home and get the image up on my computer.