Blue Ridge Mountain Photography

 The Blue Ridge Mountains: A brief overview

This is probably my favorite area for landscape photography, offering immense diversity for any outdoor enthusiast or landscape photographer.  Spending much of my life in this mountain region, it is like home.  The Blue Ridge Mountains extends southwestward for 615 miles from Pennsylvania to Georgia.  It is anywhere from 5-65 miles wide and with an average elevation of 2,000-4000 feet.  There are 125 peaks over 5,000 ft (1,524 m) elevation and the highest peak is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina, standing at 6,684 ft (2,037 m).  

The spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway runs along this range from VA (near Shenandoah National Park, the northeastern terminus) to NC (where the southwestern terminus ends near Great Smoky Mountains National Park).   The windy road stretches for 469 miles with hundreds of miles of hiking trails and numerous scenic overlooks.  It is not difficult to drive up and catch a sunrise or a sunset.   

Explore some of the Uniqueness of the Blue Ridge Mountains: 

 This large paradise is peaceful, majestic, and enchanting.   Hiking to a gorgeous mountain summit or overlook with extensive views and layers upon layers of mountains adds a rejuvenate clarity and calmness to the mind.  There is abundant beauty in the depth, shapes, and colors here.  Watching how the light interacts with the mountains and forest is special at all times of the day. 

The forest is enlightened with fresh, earthy smells and interesting wildlife and plant vegetation, which changes at different elevations and locations.  The sweet and piney, yet strong scents of the evergreen trees of the Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir variety at higher elevations are among my favorites forest smells. 

Spring and summer are bright with new, green forest growth along with many colorful shrubs and wildflowers.  Streams are roaring with falling cascades, many of which contain brook trout.  A fall adventure is not one to be missed either, with numerous varieties of coloring deciduous trees.  One of many unique and iconic symbols of this area is the black bear and it is still very active in the fall.  

Numerous Shrubs

There are rhododendrons, mountain laurels, flame azaleas, and wild hydrangeas, to name a few quite popular flowering shrubs.  For an exceptional list of shrubs and wildflowers among the Blue Ridge Mountains, see the National Park Service (NPS) link here for descriptions and photo gallery. 

The popular flowering pink to purple shrub, Catawba Rhododendron, is common in late spring and early summer (June-early July) above 3000 ft in VA and NC.  Another type of rhododendron with white to pink flowers is called Rosebay Rhododendron (also called White Rhododendron).  This one is more common at lower elevations throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Mountain Laurel, a native shrub in the eastern United States, offers another brilliant collection of blooming white-pink colored flowers in late spring and early summer.   A vibrant forest or mountain ledge full of these shrubs and their added forest scents is wonderful to be amongst.  

Blue Ridge Mountain Photography Discussion

With an expansive and delightful array of excursions and photography options, below are some suggestions based upon my own experiences.  This will primarily focus on distant mountain views.  There are diverse options in capturing the immense depth of mountain layers.  With soft light and shadows falling upon the mountains there can be amazing tonal and color contrast incorporated into these images.   

The next two images below are recorded at the same location on a mountain overlook facing toward sunset.  The first image is a wide-angle image (short focal length), just before the sun dips below the horizon: 

Notice the high dynamic range and burst of warm color emanating from the sun at that precious moment before the sun dissipates out of sight.  Lens flare can be highest around this time (discussed  later in this post).  

The next photo is shortly after sunset when the sun is a few degrees below the horizon.  It is from the same location as the first image but at a much longer focal length.    

As you see, shooting in the west shortly after sunset reveals rich mountain silhouettes.  It is one of my favorite times to shoot and display this array of tonal contrast.  The deep blue tones emerge more prominently during this time.  The same is true in reverse order at sunrise (before the sun bursts above the horizon).  There is less fine detail, thus the scene is more about abstract forms, shapes, and color.  There is dynamic color contrast with the receding cooler mountain hues and the warmer, advancing colors of the sky.  

Awaiting even further past sunset, well into blue hour, the silhouette of the mountains is more pronounced, as shown in the image below.   The foreground layers are darker and transgress to lighter shades in the remote distance.  Dynamic range is even broader at this time and soon the colors will disappear into the darkness as the brightest stars and planets have already begun to emerge.  

Dealing with Lens Flare

Photographing just before the sun dips below the horizon can have significant lens flare.  Keep your lenses clean and always buy a higher quality lens.  It is true that prime lenses can reduce flare significantly.  I also use antireflective tape that I cut and apply around the edge of my lenses.  Lens flare is only amplified the more zoomed in you are, but again improved on a prime lens.  Changing your angle, focal length, and time of shot can all help significantly.  Some photographers experiment with exposure blending to reduce lens flare.  A lens hood is generally useless when shooting into direction of the sun. 

Often, some of the best golden hour scenes before sunset or just after sunrise are the side light photos of the landscape (will post examples later).  With this lighting, there is rich detail, color, and contrast in the Landscape.  It also avoids direct light and harsh lens flare. 

How I often Photograph the Blue Ridge Mountains

Before Sunset or After Sunrise

 I’ll try and catch some of that unique side-light, described above.  If before sunset, it could be up to 1-2 hours prior.  After sunrise, it may be up to a few hours after.  A polarizer will be useful here.   Post-editing as a black and white is a fun option to consider.   The focal length is up to you! Explore as you’d like.  

During Sunset or Sunrise

 I might have out my 70-200mm lens out shortly before the sun sets or just after it rises and focus off to the side of the sun.  The rich colors will be glowing over the compressed mountain layers, looking impressive at a long focal length. This can also be done as a high key shot with abstract layers.  The colorful layers yet somewhat harsh contrast can be quite unique to capture.  See the example below:

Then, when the sun is soon to set i’ll typically switch to my wide-angle prime lens (my favorites are 24mm or 35mm).  You should usually be at higher elevation then the location where the sun is setting.  This allows you to capture the final stages of sunset and that great golden light beaming across the landscape.   Otherwise, most of your foreground will have long been in the shadows.  I’ll also have on my graduated neutral density filter. 

Just after the sun dips below the horizon, I’ll pull back out my 70-200 mm lens to keenly capture some spectacular sky color with silhouettes of mountain layers.   This will be more impressive with a longer focal length as the immediate foreground layers soon become more bland and indistinct, yet the distant layers are still full of energy!  I’ll keep my graduated neutral density filter attached as dynamic range issues are still prominent.  In fact, dynamic range issues are greater during the first hour after sunset as the nearer mountains and foreground become darker while the horizon is still bright. 

Keep capturing for another 30-45 minutes after the sun sets and watch the sky and mountain silhouettes change.  Watch the brightest stars and planets emerge.  In the final stages, the distant mountains become less and less detailed but have more tonal contrast and abstract layering.  On a clear night, the sky should burn bright red, orange, and yellow hues along the horizon in the west after sunset (or similarly within an hour prior to sunrise). 

Final Thoughts

To see more of my photo collection, see Blue Ridge Mountains Gallery. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog and I would love to add more ideas to this topic soon.  Enjoy getting out there for some nice views, hikes, and keep practicing your mountain photography!  Feel free to comment below or let me know if you have questions.  

Paul Watson