Antlers
Open Edition
As I pulled into the Big Meadows section of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park the night air was crisp and the stars were bright. I pulled off the road at a pull off and sat admiring the glowing stars in the near pitch black. As night turned into dawn, I eventually could make out the shape of this dead tree in the meadow. Now all I had to do was wait for those first drops of warm sun. I noticed the abundance of deer in the meadow, I even got to watch two bucks sparring with their antlers. I noted that my dead tree looked a lot like the antlers on the deer. Eventually the sunlight flooded the meadow in such a way that the front of the meadow was in light while the back was still in shadow. This created a strong layered effect to my image which I really liked. The autumn grasses in the field lit up a very strong orange in the golden sunlight. I tried my best not to fog up my viewfinder with my breath which was visible in the cool autumn air. I used my long 70-200mm lens to isolate the scene around the dead tree. When the morning gold light was at its peak I grabbed the shot.