Once we return from that steep rocky trail to Big Meadows, the sun in getting lower, near dusk, and it must be a perfect time for the does and their adolescent young to enter the mountain top meadows along Skyline Drive. Seeing the herd of mothers and young feasting in the soft light of a dying day inspired me to, once again, reach for my camera: Above. I do believe that I was even more shocked than the doe here, as they (the deer) allowed me to move so easily among them: Above and below. photos by Stan Deatherage
I slowly edged into the herd, with the foraging beasts checking my movement until they felt comfortable with me remaining among them. Interestingly, I got so close with my telephoto lens (75 mm to 300 mm), I found that I was too close for the lower 75 mm register to, on occasion, get the shot. Obviously, these were not two of them: Above and below. photos by Stan Deatherage
It was definitely a family event, child and mother: Above and below. photos by Stan Deatherage
As I retreat from Big Meadows, I greet the remains of the day: Above and below. photos by Stan Deatherage
As many of you know, I am a big fan of sunsets, whether on water or from the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains: Above and below. photos by Stan Deatherage
From atop the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Shenandoah National Park, I steady my hand to shoot the sunset, without a tripod in the dimming light. From this vantage point, we look across the Shenandoah Valley toward the Allegheny mountains that separate Virginia from West Virginia, with the Massanutten Mountain Range in the middle ground. It was a good day: Above and below. photos by Stan Deatherage
As time permits, I will continue this theme of the colorful with Shenandoah Valley and abutting mountains, with my "Every Picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" On the Road - The Colorful Shenandoah, Chapter IV.
