Two national parks, a night sky, “The Soul Tree”, and the poet laureate of the Blue Ridge Parkway …

I receive personal pleasure by creating occasions which bring constellations of memories and relationships into view at one time.

An intent  on a recent clear evening around 11:00 pm was to execute a test exposure for a motion time-lapse project that I will be doing for Grandfather Mountain this winter.  I chose the Waterrock Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, looking west towards the Smokies.  The foreground incidentally included an old fir snag which was the subject material of a watercolor that I painted a couple years ago to honor the first Poet Laureate of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Laura Hope-Gill.  Her co-author John Fletcher, with whom Laura published her book “The Soul Tree” has a very a very similar image.

Incidentally, the significant light-contamination in the lower left quadrant  in the photo is Cherokee and Harrah’s Casino.

 

Nikon D600, ISO 3400, 30 seconds, f/4, 12 mm