Travelogue

Travelogue

Travelogue

Travelogue

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Sunset over the Smokey Mountains

Six Sunsets (Smokey Mountains Edition)

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What's in a day?

When I first arrived in the Appalachian Mountains mid-March, wisps of green and pinkish hues filled the views. There was a distinct air of impatience, of waiting for Spring to arrive. I was clearly in an eager-state-of-mind. I was ready to be awed and inspired.

 

The first sunset was impressive. I lit a small fire and watched pinkish hues emerge behind subtle rolling hills. My lens was active, my thoughts racing. Had I captured this moment on camera? Had I captured this moment in my memory? Was I blown away by this beautiful horizon? Prodding for answers, all I could do was stoke the fire and continue to take it all in.

 

Day two brought much of the same. I took a long hike, captured hundreds of shots, and soaked in as much O2 as I could. My legs felt tired, but my mind continued to race. I made it back to my homestead just as the last minutes of daylight disappeared, and I captured a faint glow strewn across the mountains. All I could focus on was the color-noise-error of the capture. With a shake of my head, I knew somewhere inside, I still wasn’t feeling it…whatever it was.

 

When I woke on day three, I wasn’t sure where I was. I felt a strange aura fill the air, as if a presence was just alerting me to it’s being. I couldn’t quite discern the message, yet.

 

Birds chattered outside alive and active. A quick gaze out the window showed rolling hills and mountains cast in the multi-layered colors only the Smokey Mountains can produce. I reached for my phone to capture the beauty, anxious to see the results and finally feel immersed. After a coffee and some deep breaths, I only felt impatience.

 

Sunset over the Smokey Mountains
DAY 1: FUELING THE FIRE.
Sunset over the Appalachian Mountains - Photography by Som Prasad
DAY 2: AN ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE THE FAINT LIGHT
Salmon-colored clouds over an Appalachia mountain, North Carolina, US - Photography by Som Prasad
DAY 3: DETAILS BEGIN TO EMERGE.

After another long day of hiking, climbing, descending and constantly-capturing, I felt a welcome tiredness. Once again arriving home around sunset, I was greeted to an incoming storm. Clouds swirled around the mountains, billowing an ominous air that intensified the landscape. 


I set up a tripod and a telephoto lens in hopes to capture this intensity. I made quick work of the details, turning the camera dials to get just the right combination. As the light faded, a new color was revealed to me. A faint brush of a salmon-pink-orange was feathered across the sky. It touched just a handful of clouds, careful and considerate in its affect.


Finally, it was here in this moment I could feel the distractions of day-to-day life disappear, and the details of my surroundings emerge.

Sunset over the Smokey Mountains
Day 4: The colors were impossible to capture in all their glory.
Sunset over the Smokey Mountains
DAY 5: STANDING STILL.
Sunset over the Smokey Mountains
Day 6: Humbled. Arrival.
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