With rime ice on several mountains in the Asheville area, I thought I could get some good images of them from Bearwallow Mountain. Well I ended up getting some good images OF Bearwallow Mountain and not so much of the surrounding area. 

This is a prime example of being able to adjust focus (no pun intended) from one subject to another to get the magic happening at that moment. The clouds in the sky weren't really that interesting, the light on the mountains wasn't doing anything cool, but man, there was rime ice all over the place. So I started shooting one of the forests at the top of the mountain. Trees, bushes and the ground were covered and were reflecting this beautiful light from the full sun. 

As the sun began to set, the light went from a golden color to a rich orange to a redish-purplish hue. It was quite beautiful. I made many exposures of the first image below with different compositions but this is my favorite. I am also torn between the B&W version and the color version (posted here). I believe the B&W version is my preference but the color version keeps growing on me! If you have a preference let me know in the comments.

We're getting snow now as I speak so it's about that time to gear up and head out. . . Happy trails!

JD 

There's my buddy Andy Ormond charging up the trail.