Granite Falls

Hiking along the Cedar Run trail at Skyline Drive, Virginia. USA. “Granite Falls” is a composite HDRi produced from separate foreground and background elements. Three long exposures (13 sec. mid.) @ 1 stop interval brackets comprised each component.

Sunrays

The setting Sunrays break the clouds over the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. USA. HDR.

Magnum Opus

Magnum Opus means “Great Work” and derives from the legendary alchemist search for the Philosopher’s Stone. The Philosopher’s Stone was said to be the key element needed to turn lead into gold or attain great wisdom and longevity.

The way the light strikes this stone reminded me of that fable.

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Blue Ridge Sunset

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Twig

Stony Man overlooking the Shenandoah Valley.

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Stony Face

Stony Man Mountain as viewed from Little Stony Man.

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White Oak Run Foot Bridge

This foot bridge crosses a stream near the White Oak Canyon parking lot along the Cedar Run/White Oak circuit.

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The Way Home

A path to descend Stony Man Mountain.

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Boulders

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Skylines

A digital painting, created from an HDR image, of the Shenandoah Valley as the Sun streaks through building storm clouds. Seven exposures, with a 1 ev. spacing, produced the HDR image which was tonemapped with Photomatix Pro 4 and then fed through Pixel Bender.

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Rocky Slab

A view from an overlook along Skyline Drive, Virginia.

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Stony Heights

At an elevation of 4011 ft., Stony Man offers spectacular views of the Shenandoah Valley beneath and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. This hike was really easy compared to some others in the park. Three miles hike, round-trip, along a modest slope for some of the best scenery is well worth the effort. The HDR was produced from five exposures with a 2 ev. spacing. The images were merged and tonemapped using Photomatix Pro4. Final adjustments in Photoshop 5 and Lightroom 3.

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Mountain Drive

Skyline Drive snakes through the mountains on a late fall day as a storm approaches from the West.

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Cedar Run Falls

After several miles of downhill hiking, I arrived at one of the falls along the Cedar Run Circuit. By this time of the day, the clouds had begun to build so the lighting was pretty low. I could get an exposure of 1.3 seconds without a neutral density filter to blur the water. Even so, I attached the filter just to see what kind of difference it might make. With the filter in front of the lens the exposure jumped to 13 seconds. Although the 1.3 second exposure did just fine, the 13 second exposure was clearly better. Three shots with a 1 ev. spacing produced the HDRi.

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Empty Chair

An HDR painting created from four exposures with a 2 ev. spacing. The images were merged and toned using Photoshop 5. Pixel Bender created the painterly effect. The images were captured in a hallway upstairs at the Big Meadows Lodge along Skyline Drive, Virginia.

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Blue Ridge Panorama

Early fall colors along Skyline Drive, Virginia, 2012. This panorama was comprised of five sets with five exposures each at 2ev. spacing. Each set was merged to HDR and toned with Photomatix Pro 4. The resulting Tiffs were stitched together inside Photoshop's Photomerge. Final touches added using Lightroom 3.

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The Crag

Jagged cliffs of Stony Man loom over the Shenandoah Valley. Created from seven exposures with a 1 ev. spacing, the HDR image was merged and processed with Photomatix Pro 4. Final processing in Photoshop 5.

 
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Ledge Over Luray

The hike to Little Stony Man is a breeze compared to some other trails. At just under a mile there and back, along relatively gentle slopes, this trek features some of the most spectacular views in the entire park. This image was created from seven exposures at 1ev. spacing, processed with Photomatix and Photoshop.

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Rolling Hills

Rolling Hills of the Shenandoah Mountains as viewed from Stony Man in Skyland, Virginia.

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Hawksbill

A view along Skyline Drive, Virginia.

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