Capturing the beauty of the Earth in a colorful and captivating way.
Newsletter 2 Week of October 19-25
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Jeffrey's Weekly Newsletter
Week of October 19-24, 2020
Weekly Recap
While this week has been semi uneventful, I've been sorting through new images, working on some editing, and doing some housekeeping, last week was one full of adventure. Sorry to everyone who missed having a newsletter last week. As I posted nothing on Instagram and came back from my trip the night the newsletter was meant to be sent out, I figured there was nothing of substance to write about.
Last week's adventure took place in the Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway, on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. A 4-day adventure in the mountains complete with long hikes, foggy mountain scenes, fall foliage, mountain layers, golden sunrises and sets, and the most glorious Milky Way I've seen to this day. A blog still hasn't been written yet because I' ma bout to go back again next week for peak foliage. I'll definitely something about my experiences after for all of you to read. However, to summarize this trip,
Day 1:15 mile hike up to Mt Le Cont e and Myrtle Point. We woke up t around 5:30am to avoid traffic and find a parking space. A lot of the hike was climbing through the forest. A few sights of the mountains could be seen but nothing that is better than the overlooks, in my opinion. Myrtle Point after all the hiking was kind of underwhelming. This wasn't as fun as Angels Landing or Grinnel Glacier but is definitely a workout for the hiking enthusiasts.
Day 2: A little sunrise mission over to Mill's overlook to catch a glimpse of the sun. Another 5:30 am wake up. As we were driving to the overlook on a road with double yellow lines, we were overtaken by a pickup truck that we later found out was also going to the same sunrise overlook. He was the first to get there. We were the second. The spot he picked out wasn't good either. About 10 minutes later, around 20 cars showed up, one after the other, to get this exact same sunrise. Unfortunately, it was a foggy morning so we weren't able to see the sun but soon the fog cleared just a bit to reveal some color so still came out with a unique shot. The day was spent driving around the park, visiting various overlooks, and shooting scenes of the fog, which was really dreamy. We also drove to our next campsite on Blue Ridge.
Day 3: A waste if you ask me. We drove 60 miles on the parkway towards VA and saw nothing. We wasted the day but decided to go to the Linn Cove Viaduct for sunset. Traffic was crazy. Because foot traffic wasn't allowed on the viaduct, people would slow down or stop in the middle of the one-lane road to take pictures. It clogged traffic for over 10 miles and we took 2 hours to get there. By that time, we were in late twilight but I was still able to get a few shots. We were also able to get an incredible vertically Milky Way so I wasn't too mad.
Day 4: We went back to the Linn Viaduct for sunrise and was able to see the whole show from start, when the sky was still dark and the constellations were visible, to finish.
This week, I finished my series from Yellowstone with shots from the base of the Grand Prismatic and edited one of Jord Hammond's shots from Bali.
"Colorful Veins"
Being at the base of the Grand Prismatic is magical, to say the least. The steam, the colors, and the textures all make the experience surreal. With this shot, I really wanted to show off the textures at the base of the hot spring. I got down really low to make the textures a dominant foreground subject. Notice how with the composition, the bright orange line and textures lead to the right, to the soft steam. This contrast in textures coupled with a strong foreground and leading lines creates really nice depth. Through dodge and burn, I was able to bring out the textures and accentuate them.
"Rocky Mirror"
Another shot just beyond the Grand Prismatic, because of the wet nature of the area, a lot of the landscape is covered ina thin layer of water that reflects like a perfect mirror. At noon, you can even see the bright reflection of the sun and catch its rays gleaming on the surface. This shot was another attempt to capture the beautiful textures near the Grand Prismatic.
This shot comes from Jord Hammond's free for all. I absolutely loved the composition of this shot. Sprawling grass with the dirt road leads out to lush fields of farmland and then a majestic mountain in the distance. I love the contrast between the textures of the fields and the mountains. The foreground grass, with a bit of frequency separation, looks sharp and detailed and lush. The way the foreground, midground, and background connect together through a series of leading lines tells a wonderful story and paints a picture of life in Indonesia. I also loved the colors in this image. When cranking the highlights all the way down, a golden gradient appeared in the sky. Orange to blue to purple seemed so intense. Coupled with the lush greens in the foreground and midground, this entire shot looks like a paradise.
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Photographer of the Week
This past week's Photographer of the week was Evan Gerstung, also known on Instagram as @evang_travels. His focus is primarily on bright and vibrant landscapes across the United States, especially in the US national parks. Catch a glimpse of his grid and you’ll instantly be captivated by his vibrant and vivid colors. Further, analyze and you’ll see every image is exceptionally composed with an eye-catching element of light to draw you in. Evan is sure to captivate and mesmerize.
Check out last week's Photographer of the Week
Ty Inez (@tynezphoto)
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No free gifts this week but I'm working on something big and I'll give you a chance to claim some incredible 8k wallpapers and guides for free in the coming weeks! :)
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A thing I learned this week/ my thoughts:
Did you know there's a difference between birch trees and aspen trees? Both are very similar with their white bark but birch trees are known to have bark that is able to peel back like paper. Aspens have a greenish tint on their bark with black horizontal scars and black knots while birch trees only have the black horizontal scars In terms of leaves, here's an excerpt from the NPS, "Quaking Aspens are often confused with birch trees. Although aspen are somewhat similar in appearance to some species of birch, birch trees belong to an entirely different family of trees. Birch are famous for having bark that peels back like paper; aspen bark does not peel. Whereas aspen leaves are perfectly flat, birch leaves are slightly "V" shaped and more elongated than Quaking Aspen leaves." I guess the best way to distinguish between a birch an aspen at first glance is to look for the prescence of dark black knots, which would indictae an aspen tree. Glad I'm finally able to tell the difference between the two and hopefully with this information, you can too.
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Plans for Next Week:
I'm going back to the Smokies next week! Make sure to keep up on the story! Will keep you guys updated when I get back! Hopefully, the foliage will be peaking then. As always, grateful for your support,
