A NEW PERSPECTIVE
I was nearing the end of my stay in Virginia; this had been one of the countless nights on Skyline Drive to watch the sunset. My goal on this evening was to walk away with pictures from a new perspective. There is no such thing as a bad picture here; the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. So what’s going to make my work stand out from the rest? I wanted to capture something different than what I saw all over these Virginia Photo Groups on Facebook.
A few miles past the Dickey Ridge Visitors Center, I found a quiet overlook to the West and deemed it perfect to watch the last bit of the sunset. I had already taken 122 pictures prior to capturing what you see here, and I was almost ready to pack up and go. The sun was falling behind the clouds, and I felt good about the shots I had gotten - but just as I got back to my car I saw this little window in the trees.
Everything had aligned so well. It wasn’t even a shot I was “looking for,” it just caught my eye at a moment's notice.
This ended up being my first image ever published by a travel page. Visit Waynesboro shared an article featuring must-see spots in the area. With the magic of Instagram hashtags, they found this shot and asked if they could use it. To me, it was mind-blowing that such a beautiful area that had been photographed thousands upon thousands of times was going to be represented by one of my images.
This was a realization that taking pictures could be more than just a hobby. At the time I was only 5 months into my photography journey but knew if I kept working I could really make it into something. This shot gave me a new perspective, fresh motivation, and hangs in my room to remind me of all the wonderful memories made in the Summer of 2020.
SHOP THE COLLECTION
Browse images from Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive, and other beautiful spots around Virginia.