Copyright Nathan Montgomery, 2008The reds were particularly impressive in the mountains this year, and these trees were the reddest of the reds we saw. We encountered them along NC Hwy. 215, just a few miles south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We parked at a safe spot along the road and then walked back down the mountain side to take this shot. Heavy brush along the roadside meant that only a narrow window was open to capture these trees on the mountainside on the opposite side of the valley.
The key to this shot- and in my mind, the key to most shots- is the circular polarizer. It makes colors pop. Never leave home without one!
I don't think that this is a great shot photographically speaking, but I think it's nice from the perspective that you can really see just how nice the reds were this year. To that end, I've posted another version that is a little bit more artistic, as it has a more defined subject, but doesn't do quite as good of a job of showing what the mountains of southwest NC looked like this year.
There is a sad side to this picture- I inadvertently changed my ISO setting prior to taking the pictures at this location. Instead of shooting ISO 100, I shot ISO 800. It added some grain to my image, and consequently, I won't be able to blow this picture up much higher than 5x7.
3 comments:
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I think Sumac foliage is the only leaves around the Midwest that come close to being that red. What are those red trees?
Sadly, I've always been terrible at identifying trees.
I am not for sure what made the colors, but the deep red is wonderful. Love, Ma
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