Last week you got pictures of the MLK Memorial, a butterfly, and a flame azalea. But no pictures of the Blue Ridge Parkway itself. What’s going on?

Just this: flowers and butterflies are easy. A little cropping, a little exposure correction, and you’re good to go. Views of the Blue Ridge Mountains are another thing entirely. First, you have to sort through dozens of views to pick out the one or two that truly show off the mountains best. Then you need to composite two frames together. With grand vistas, it’s all but impossible to get a well-exposed picture of both the sky and the foreground at once, so instead you have to take two pictures with different exposures and then merge them together later. It’s not that hard, but it’s better done at home where I’ve got a fast computer with a big screen and plenty of time to muck around.

So I waited until I got home. And now I am. Home, that is. Which means that finally you get a picture of the lovely Blue Ridge Mountains themselves.

May 8, 2019 — Yadkin Valley Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

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