Evening Glow
Raven's Roost,
Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia
October 31, 2018
“Evening Glow” is one of my favorite photographs of one of my favorite trees. I've taken photos of this tree ever since I could drive, back when I was shooting Black & White film that I hand developed in High School. On Halloween in 2018 I went to Raven’s Roost in hopes that the holiday would keep the crowds away but there was a large group taking sunset pictures. Luckily, they all dispersed quickly after the sun went down. Once it became dark enough, I tried to capture the tree silhouetted against the stars, but I wasn’t happy with the initial results as the tree was too dark against the sky.
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Then I had an idea to add a few battery powered tealights around the tree (the tealights were a gag gift from my sister because I spilled real candle wax on my then brand new suit at a wedding) but they didn’t light the tree up enough at first so I then put the lights on the branches. The wind blew them off quickly, but before they fell, I was able to capture the glow they provided around the tree. To this day, this is my favorite picture of the tree as I feel it captures the true essence and glory of the tree.