Along the Allegheny Front

[Dave Johnston]

The roads to access the Dolly Sods Wilderness and surrounding areas are closed during the winter, but just opened on April 15. The weekend was cold and very windy, with spitting snow and sleet off and on. Under these conditions clouds build up on the upslope of the Allegheny Plateau to the west, but tend to dry out after they clear the escarpment of the Allegheny Front, producing clear areas and reforming clouds that don't move much over the valleys to the east. At sunset these can catch the sunset glow even when it is cloudy and dismal to the west. I was fortunate to catch this twice in the last few days, shooting toward the east at sunset over the rim of the Front. I hope to process and add a few more but wanted to put these up first.

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Dave

 

[AlanLichty]

Stunning views and the clouds add a lot to the scenes. I love the view in the first image but my favorite is the second with the color version of the sunset and the nicely placed old snag off to the right. Good call on portrait mode for that composition.

 

[Bart Carrig]

I really enjoy your back country photos Dave. These are great scenes and compositions, beautifully processed. They demonstrate the subtle but exciting beauty of early spring. Well done.

bart

 

[Dave Johnston]

Thanks you, Alan and Bart! Unfortunately Bear Rocks is right along the dirt access road and is hardly backcountry anymore. In the summer and fall hordes of people visit, but this early it is not as overrun and affords a lot of photo options. But for the second location, I explored an unofficial, somewhat-beaten path along the rim, and found some rarely-visited overlooks that will provide some solitude and photo opportunities in the future.

Dave

 

[Ben Egbert]

Very beautiful and pleasing set. That first one is my favorite.

 

[dan swiger]

The roads to access the Dolly Sods Wilderness and surrounding areas are closed during the winter, but just opened on April 15. The weekend was cold and very windy, with spitting snow and sleet off and on. Under these conditions clouds build up on the upslope of the Allegheny Plateau to the west, but tend to dry out after they clear the escarpment of the Allegheny Front, producing clear areas and reforming clouds that don't move much over the valleys to the east. At sunset these can catch the sunset glow even when it is cloudy and dismal to the west. I was fortunate to catch this twice in the last few days, shooting toward the east at sunset over the rim of the Front. I hope to process and add a few more but wanted to put these up first.

View attachment 38522

View attachment 38523

View attachment 38524

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Dave

These are some sweet captures of my dads home state.

 

[Jim Dockery]

Nice work, I like 'em all, but #2 for me - wonderful leading lines in the clouds and trees. That would have been incredible is there was some fall color in the ground cover.

 

[JimFox]

Wow Dave, some great conditions there. #1 is really good and #2 is outstanding! I prefer the color version. In the B&W, I think you could add a bit more contrast or darken the blacks a bit more on the ground to give it a bit more of a black feel.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Very nice. I'd be happy with any of these. My favorite is the second one.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Beautiful photography, Dave. I am imagining how beautiful this looks when the first light green leaves of spring sprout.

 

[Amy Nelson]

Extremely beautiful photographs....all are very lovely!

 

[Dave Johnston]

Thanks, everyone!

@JimFox , I did play around with the contrast of the foreground, on both the color and B&W versions, and I couldn't find anything that looked quite right to me. This was the best balance I came up with. But if I looked at it on another day, I might see it differently!

@Jim Dockery , you read my mind! When the huckleberries turn color up here, it can become a riot of scarlet. This should be a very nice scene to come back to in the fall. Especially if I can dial up a cloud like that!

@Douglas Sherman , they aren't very evident, but the huckleberry flowers were just starting to come out, which is why there is a bit of red tinge to the brush. But I'll come back once they leaf out and see how it looks in green.

This was a new location for me, but it has a lot of possibilities to come back for!

Dave