High winds sculpt the swirling clouds around Mount Pisgah on the Blue RIdge Parkway

I was out on one of my favorite stretches of Blue Ridge Parkway early one morning in April when I was soon being pummeled by cold temperatures and the high winds that can show up almost out of nowhere. The temperature outside was 27 degrees, and it cut through my layered clothing pretty good. Ok! I’m awake!

I noticed some clouds swirling around Mount Pisgah, one of the tallest peaks in view at 5,721. I wanted to capture the action of wind sculpting the moving, swirling clouds around a rock solid stationary object, so I set my camera for manual exposure at f/18. The available light gave me a 10-13 second exposure, plenty of time for cloud sculpting! The light added a nice touch, too I think.