Heart of the Storm

The spring time drought had drug on for months, finally coming to an end as waves of storms finally hit the mountains. An opportunity no photographer could walk away from. Clouds dropping, mist rising, streaks of hot light spilling between cracks through the clouds. Then hope you catch the exact moment the mist, clouds, rain, and light all interact in just the right way to give you the chance to capture that moment. That exact moment you have a window into the breaking heart of the storm.

Five hours I waited, working on different compositions along the gap where this scene unfolded. A scene I waited for, because I knew that there was potential. I couldn’t tell you what the light will do on any given day, but I know rain in the mountains means fog, and fog means drama. The trick is finding that fog with complimentary light. Light that often never comes, but on occasion, when the window blows just the right way, you have a chance to capture the pure majesty of Appalachia.

As far as the edit is concerned, I spent a while on this one. It really had me stumped. The original is a milky mess, best described as pea soup. I spent a lot of time with the histogram, playing with contrast, and then colors. Finally I began adding radial and linear filters to help show off what I thought was the best parts of our mountain home.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f11
ISO: 320
SS: 1/60th
Focal: 74mm

Fujinon 50-140 f2.8