Mark VanDyke Photography
Roan Highlands Autumn Sunrise
Blushing Blueberries and Burnished Valleys From Grassy Ridge
Southern Appalachian Mountains
Date taken: October 20, 2016
In 2016 I found myself on assignment for Our State Magazine chasing a frame that expressively placed the viewer atop the magical open, grassy balds of the Roan Highlands. As I did my initial scouting in September (almost a month before the color arrived), I found myself taking down notes regarding the ferns along the trail and the long, waving grasses that would color brown and the thick stands of Mountain Ash which would soon show clusters of seasonal red berries. I was doing a typical "resource inventory" if you'll have it of what elements were present and what I would have to work with. While I knew that the blueberry bushes would likely be the most ambitious color changers, their relative patchiness was a concern for me and I didn't know if I'd be able to make it work behind the lens.
As I struggled to work the aforementioned elements throughout the month of October, this was one of my attempts to utilize the blushing autumn blueberry leaves in the foreground. The view is from the spine of Grassy Ridge Bald, looking east towards the rising sun, Grandfather Mountain, and the Linville Gorge.
Roan Highlands Autumn Sunrise
Blushing Blueberries and Burnished Valleys From Grassy Ridge
Southern Appalachian Mountains
Date taken: October 20, 2016
In 2016 I found myself on assignment for Our State Magazine chasing a frame that expressively placed the viewer atop the magical open, grassy balds of the Roan Highlands. As I did my initial scouting in September (almost a month before the color arrived), I found myself taking down notes regarding the ferns along the trail and the long, waving grasses that would color brown and the thick stands of Mountain Ash which would soon show clusters of seasonal red berries. I was doing a typical "resource inventory" if you'll have it of what elements were present and what I would have to work with. While I knew that the blueberry bushes would likely be the most ambitious color changers, their relative patchiness was a concern for me and I didn't know if I'd be able to make it work behind the lens.
As I struggled to work the aforementioned elements throughout the month of October, this was one of my attempts to utilize the blushing autumn blueberry leaves in the foreground. The view is from the spine of Grassy Ridge Bald, looking east towards the rising sun, Grandfather Mountain, and the Linville Gorge.