One of the great pleasures of photographing sunrise in the Southern Appalachians is the possibility of encountering an early morning cloudfall as mists rise from one valley only to descend into another. Earlier this past week Bonnie and encountered such an opportunity along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Pounding Mill Overlook looking slightly northeastward along the Pisgah Ridge. What seemed especially intriguing were the textures in the cloud mass and the sun’s early light bouncing off the top of the wave.
A focal length of 300mm, close to medium telephoto-land gave me the compression and angle-of-view I wanted. An aperture of f/22 provided depth-of-field, and a shutter speed of 1/6th second at ISO 100 gave me an overall lighter-than-medium exposure.
The sight of these great masses of condensed air floating across a ridge and descending into a valley below seems like an act in defiance of nature; yet it is only nature being itself and allowing human voyeurism to go along.
This is one of the most dramatic photos that I have seen from you and might be one of my favorites of all times. Capturing the early light on the clouds and ridges was perfect. So glad you shared.
That is absolutely amazing!!!
Hi Nancy. It’s always good to have you with us. I hope you are taking good care during these uncertain times. Your kind comment is very much appreciated. Sometimes you think you’re going to photograph a sunrise and something else happens. I guess it’s a good reason to keep photographing sunrises. Be well.
Good morning Patricia. Thank you for joining us. I hope you have been safe and well, and I really appreciate your kind words and observations. Thank you for sharing them with us. Drama is always an image attribute that adds interest; and your thoughts encourage me to want to create conversations about what we might consider to be dramatic in the imagery of our times. Seems like it would be a wonderfully instructive conversation to have. Walk in Beauty.
The ridgelines and the forest blend beautifully with the broad strokes and the fine detail in the cloud. And the lone distinct shape of a tree in the upper right is an anchor that draws the eye upward and then back into the details of the cloud. You could probably write a book on the elements of this image. I love it! Your title is a great touch as well.
Hey Ron. It’s great to hear from you! I hope all is well in Knoxville. Your description of the elements and relationships found in this Image are very intriguing. I especially appreciate your acknowledgement of the “lone tree” as an anchoring element. It is truly amazing to me how we are drawn to various aspects of an image and draw upon them to fill and complete our understanding of what is shown. Thanks for sharing those observations and for your kind words. I wasn’t sure about “cloudfall” until I researched it, but I was familiar with “fogfall,” which just did not seem to fit quite right. Stay safe.
Love this image. Pounding Mill Overlook is one of my favorites. Have seen fog there but never clouds like this. What really works for me is the diagonal lines that all bring you to the bottom right of the picture. The clouds actually look like an avalanche. f22 was definitely the right choice. Capturing the detail of the trees creates a great contrast with the clouds. Just one other thought. Have you considered using a GND or radial filter in post to in post to darken the sky a bit and possibly darken it a bit and bring out a little more detail? I know the dynamic range on this is very challenging.
Hey Kev. It’s good to hear from you. I hope you and Elizabeth are safe and well. Lots of good observations here! In all the times I’ve been to Pounding Mill, I’ve never seen a cloudfall. The fog in the valley that morning was fairly scant, so the cloud coming over the ridge was quite a treat. Using the diagonal lines of the ridges required a bit of work to balance the land with the sky, but when I framed the image shown, it felt balanced with the ridge lines converging in the lower right. I agree: given the reduced depth-of-field from the relatively long focal length, f/22 was the best choice, and it also gave me sufficient magnification to bring forward the details of the trees. You know, I was actually using my 5-stop grad here; that’s how much of a range was present. But it might be worth adding some grad in post to see what a more darkened sky would produce. Let’s talk soon. Walk in Beauty.
A most intriguing, wonderful sunrise image. I think the subjugation of the lower third of the image with a deeper tonality to the upper two thirds sure makes the falling clouds the focal point and main attraction. For the first few moments of seeing the image, all I could think of was a huge tsunami enveloping the land.
Hi Chuck. It’s great to have you join us! As you might infer from my comments to Kevin, the dynamic range was great enough that even with the 5-stop grad the resulting shading was as you see it here. I decided that the range I was left with was a good contrast and the texture in the cloud added to the attraction of the eye toward the highlights. The interesting thing is without the magnification and angle-of-view compression of the 300mm focal length, the “tsunami” effect is not nearly as present. At 28mm, it’s just a cloud coming over a relatively small section of a very long ridge. The distortion effect of lenses can be very considerable. Stay safe, my friend.
Really interesting photograph. Hope you Covid year is going well.
Hi Robert. It’s great to have you join us! I hope you are safe and well in these turbulent times, in Chicago or wherever you may be. Thanks for your kind comment. I’m afraid that I don’t know any photographers who do what I do who would choose the words “going well” to describe the year this far. But it is what it is and we’ll make the best of it. Thanks for asking. Hope our paths may cross somewhere down the road. Walk in Beauty.
Magnificent! That huge central mass looks more solid than cloudy, kind of like an avalanche. It would be such an awesome sight to see in person.
Hey Donald. I always appreciate your observations. Thanks for joining us. Hope all is well and you are safe wherever you are. I think that my comments to Chuck will fit well with what you have said. I wish you could have seen it with us. Take good care and stay safe.
That is so very awesome! Too late to run for the hills! Wait, you are in the hills, might as well take a few pictures 🙂 I am so glad you keep showing up for these events and sharing with the rest of us that were probably sleeping in. The color is so soft and pastel-like, and in contrast, a giant wave is crashing down creating so mush quiet trama… It must be magic!
Thanks for sharing
Hey Nancy T. It is excellent to have you with us. I hope you are staying safe in West Tennessee. Exactly what I thought: Might as well take a few images. I would love to have shared it with you in person; one day…. What an interesting contrast to draw: the tonalities with the implicit motion of the cloud. Your stories are always so revelatory to me. Take good care and Walk in Beauty.
Right place right time. Awesome picture !
Hey Michael. Great to hear from you! Thanks so much for your kind words. Hope you are staying safe and well, and enjoying nature at every opportunity.
Beautiful image, Don, I would have loved to see it in person.
Hey Lynne. Thanks so much for your kind words. I wish I could predict the occurrence of such phenomena with enough accuracy to make it worth your while to get up at 4:a.m. to go check it out. I would love to have shared it with you and John. Looking forward to our next rendezvous. Be well, stay safe, Walk in Beauty.
WOW, surf or sky! Love it. Want to be IN it!
Hi Robin. Great to hear from you! Thanks for your thoughtful words. Wouldn’t it be fun to stand underneath the flow and have a cloud rain down on you? After we left Pounding Mill, we were, unfortunately, headed in the opposite direction toward Graveyard Fields. Oh well, next time. Be safe and stay well.
Incredible. Is this what you saw at Sunrise? Wow!!!
Howdy Michelle. Thanks for joining us. This is what I saw through a 300mm focal length lens. My limited, 47mm angle-of-view eyes, saw it differently; but they were able to imagine what telephoto eyes would see. So it was a joint effort. Hope you are well and staying safe. Take good care.
That is amazing. So glad you were there to capture this.
Hi Karen. Thank you very much for joining us; it’s good to hear from you. Sometimes becoming a bit of a meteorologist helps in making worthwhile decisions about getting up in the middle of the night. I really appreciate your kind comments. Be well and stay safe.
Certainly a natural phenomenon prepared by the CLOUDMASTER!
You may thank me later with a YEE HAW!
Hello Cloud Master. It is great to hear from you! I hope you and Ms Helen are well and safe. How did you know that standing on Pounding Mill that morning you were the first person who crossed my mind? It’s a new day…and I will be happy to reimburse your largess with the Yee Haw of your choice. Hope to see you soon.
Thanks, again, Everyone for joining our conversation this week and for offering such interesting observations and comments. I have long been of the mind that showing up and being present are the first two “rules” of being a good nature photographer. Along with those two, however, there a number of others that are extremely helpful, such as becoming a better naturalist, and in this instance, a better meteorologist. Even then, things don’t always turn out as you might wish; but the worst day I spent in Nature was infinitely better than the best day I ever spent in an office. I look forward to our conversation continuing. Walk in Beauty.