Most people who know me and my style of photography, know that I do not like shooting on a bright blue day. I just don't like shooting into the harsh light, but that didn't matter much when I decided to go on a road trip for the day. I had just dropped my kids off at school when a thought came to mind (I just don't want to go home), so I darted off and hit the road. As I was driving I began to think about where I wanted to go and I didn't really think I would take any pictures, their were no clouds. I just wanted to go and relax and enjoy the views.

Once I made it to Elizabethton, TN I decided to go on up to Linville, NC and jump on the Blue Ridge Parkway. When I got to the Parkway I found I had my hardest decision, do I go right? or do I go left? Each direction offers a different selection of views. I decided to go left, which is North on the Parkway, I wanted to check out Grandfather Mountain and then venture on up the road. When I got to my first view of Grandfather Mountain, I was...

I have discovered a new subject I love to photograph, concerts. Concert photography is fast paced and full of raw human emotion. Photographing concerts however can be challenging, you are typically shooting in really low light and the musicians and singers are moving around everywhere. You can't be afraid to use your ISO here, so expect to bump it up to 1,000, 1,600 or higher so that you can have a shutter speed fast enough to capture the movement and have it sharp along with having enough light to create the image.

I recently covered the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion for Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, it was an experience I will never forget. For three days I got to photograph amazing bands like Old Crow Medicine Show, Folk Soul Revival, Railroad Earth and so many more. Each band had its own challenge, lighting was different and the people moved around differently. Before the event though I studied other photographers who typically shoot concerts and even took the time ask advice fro...

When I am out shooting landscapes I am always looking for that "Long Shot" and what I mean by that is, that I am looking for a compressed shot that may be way off in the distance. I carry a 100-400 C series Sigma lens, I use to have a ƒ2.8 70-200 Nikkor lens, but decided to move towards Sigma. I always come across something that is happening off in the distance and I always want to be able to capture it and that's where my telephoto lens comes in handy.

When you are on a high vantage point in a mountain covered landscape like here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, you come across a lot of great compressed shots. The light might not be working well for a nice wide angle shot, but off in the distance the light is looking great along a mountain top or down in the valley. This is where I seem to find a lot of my great compressed shots. I am always looking for a stray bit of light, layers that build or a combination of both working harmoniously together.

Shooting tight, compressed shots with your...