TWO FROM THE BLUE RIDGE

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, October 2017, Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, at 16 mm

As always towards the end of a year I do some housekeeping in my image library and sometimes I find another photo that I think deserves to be published.

This photo was made during our last morning in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia a couple years ago. There are some great views from the Blue Ridge in either direction, east or west. Here it is the morning light that gives the landscape on the east side some depth and reveals the beauty of these mountains.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

A few days earlier we watched the sunset at a different spot along the Skyline Drive. The staggered arrangement of at least eight mountain ridges, separated by the mist in the valleys, tell the story about a great evening on the Blue Ridge in Shenandoah National Park.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The year ends with very cold temperatures and snow on the ground, ideal conditions for some bird photography in the backyard today. This young female Red-bellied Woodpecker posed nicely on the trunk of this gnarly Ironwood (American Hop Hornbeam).

Female Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dec 31, 2017, near Durango, Iowa

The weeks before Christmas the weather has been relatively warm and to our surprise we had a female Yellow-rumped Warbler at our bird bath and below the suet feeders. The northern edge of their winter range is normally several hundred miles south from here, but another birder told me that is not totally unusual to see a few here in eastern Iowa if the winter is mild. I was awed when the warbler still came to the bird bath and feeders today despite the fact that the temperature was at -18ºC (0º F) and with a solid snow cover on the ground.

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, October 2017

Usually I would end the year with a few “Retrospect” blog posts about my photographic highlights during the year, but some last-minute business trip between Christmas and now kept me from doing it. Maybe I find the time in January… However, I like to thank everybody for stopping here, for your emails and messages with opinions, critique, and advice. I appreciate all of them and would be happy to see you back in 2018!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WHEN LIGHT BECOMES THE SUBJECT

At Lewis Mountain campsite, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Ok, I’m jumping back and forth between actual photos, like the Tundra Swans from yesterday, and little stories and images from our tour through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia in October.

Photography is all about light and how we use it to bring out the subject in our pictures. During an early morning walk around Lewis Mountain campsite in Shenandoah National Park I tried to work with backlit subjects, like ferns and grasses. With every minute more warm light from the low sun was pouring in and putting out some real magic. All the backlit plants are still in the frame but they play only a small role in the story. Suddenly the light itself, hitting the forest floor, became the subject. Not a bad way to start a day…

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, @ 35 mm, 1/25s, f/8, ISO400,

SHENANDOAH

At The Point Overlook, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia ------

Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and its Skyline Drive are liked by many people for the  views they can have from the top of the Blue Ridge. Other than in West Virginia the week before we were a little bit too early for the peak of the fall colors in Shenandoah, but the views, especially at the end of the day, were just magnificent. The price for having sunny and warm days was paid with the absence of dramatic clouds, another reason to look for photo opportunities around sunset.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, @ 35 mm, 1/50s, f/10, ISO100, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, KIRK BH-3 ball head, VELLO wired remote switch,