Winter storms have closed Skyline Drive for quite a few days. The South District has actually been closed since November, when an ice storm took down thousands of trees. Rain and snow have hindered clean-up efforts.
Fortunately for me, the northernmost section was not hit as hard, and reopened fairly quickly, only to be closed again by more bad weather. The mountains often get worse weather than the valley so the park advises that you call before going there (540 999-3500). On Wednesday night I read on Facebook that the road was open for the five miles from Front Royal to Dickey Ridge, so I took a lunch up there on Thursday and looked around.
It was pretty quiet; I only saw a couple of other vehicles. And I spotted a herd of deer at Dickey Ridge.
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Since many of my readers are photographers, I'll take a minute to admit that I took that picture of the herd through my windshield, which is tinted. I have a few steps in Photoshop that I saved as an "Action" which can sometimes clear up that discoloration very quickly. So next we have a Before and After comparison, with my Photoshop panels on the right. Basically the Action duplicates the layer and then adjusts levels/auto. That gives me an improved layer which I can either use at full value or by some percentage by changing transparency.
The next deer photo did not need to be Photoshopped because I took it through an open window. Here the light is better than anything I'd get through tinted glass.
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| Saturday's Critters. |
The first overlook was open and the light was still bright.
The deer are quite a sight to see.
ReplyDeleteSecond herd of deer gave you a better pose also. :)
ReplyDeleteThe deer are adorable!
ReplyDeleteHello, love the deer. They are so sweet. Wonderful photos. I hope to go the park in the spring, when the weather is warmer. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Sunday, enjoy your day and week ahead. PS, thank also for leaving me a comment.
ReplyDeleteHow great to see deer...as well as learn some of the photoshop techniques you use. Yes, the mountains do have more severe weather, and with the workers not being paid for over a month, it was hard to keep ahead of cleanups, (the Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Park.)
ReplyDeleteI like all of your photographs.
ReplyDeleteLovely to see the deer.
All the best Jan
Love the deer - dont think I would have noticed the tint unless you mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
I love seeing the deers. Fantastic photos, I like them. I wouldn't have noticed the tint either, nice editing.
ReplyDeleteI love your deer shots. Your editing improved them too.
ReplyDelete