Photographer's Journal:

The Southern Chain of the Appalachian Mountains in Western North Carolina is no stranger to large storm systems pushing northward out of the Gulf of Mexico.  After these systems break up over the rough topography of the Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains, they can offer a beautiful array of colors for God to use in His painting.

It was in the summer of 2021, after an extensive system had blown itself out, that I headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Waterrock Knob Overlook.  The destination offers two views, one to the East of the Pisgah National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains and another to the West of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Since the sun sets over the Smokies, I chose to set up my camera and gear on that perch and wait to see how God would use the sun to paint the mountains in the remaining storm clouds. 

He certainly didn’t disappoint as the sun blazed out between the clouds multiple times in an array of golds, ambers, and scarlets. Finally, however, He muted the sun for just a few seconds behind the clouds, and the Smokies glowed in hues of blue.  I was blessed to be looking through my lens at that very moment so I could snap the shutter to capture the image you see now entitled, Shades of Smoke.