"Smokey Blues"

While up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia recently, there were two forest fires burning at the same time, relatively close to each other. Certain areas of the Shenandoah National Park had quite a bit of smoke. Others were either clear or had the typical hot summer days haze.
In this image here I wanted to capture the smokey feel in this spot. You can really get the feeling for it as the distance between the three mountains increases. The whole sky was smoke filled with not a chance of seeing any clouds if there were any.
Even with all of the smoke you can still see the blue-ish colors, and it certainly lives up to the name, the Blue Ridge Mountains!

"Of Distant Clouds"

As I've been posting about the Laurel Highlands, this image continues the journey. I love this view. I stood on top of a very large hill, and then on top of some pretty large boulders to look out and see this lovely image of hills, valleys and a truly amazing sky! Everything was so harmonious and beautiful. The mountains in the distance and the wonderful puffy clouds seemed to stretch on forever!

"White Water and Lilies"

This shot was taken along the banks of the Youghiogheny River at an area with some white water, and lots of rocks. These pretty Day Lilies were growing along side of the rocks and made a colorful addition to the image.
The day I was there the weather was so beautiful, and cool. What a change from the heat wave most of the country is still in.
In most areas of the river you can do white water rafting, or take out a canoe or a kayak. A calming and fun experience on a summer's day!