Charlottesville Reservoir

12.30.21 - I've always wanted to take this photo, but I just didn't know how. Dozens of times I've framed this scene at the reservoir, but never did the image come together. Usually it was in the morning, occasionally the evening, and I was looking for that big, contrasty sunrise/sunset. Often I've composed this scene in the fall when the colors of the leaves are popping, or the spring when everything is new again. And yet, it never felt right

Well, with the heavy cloud-cover and fog yesterday, I went out to the reservoir mid-day to look for some wildlife to photograph. Although I was rather unsuccessful in that endeavor, I was surprised by the particular look this bank of trees was giving me. The fog had eerily vacated the water, leaving a clear view of the opposing bank, but continuing to keep the sky socked in. The contrast and the color of the trees and their reflections were just bursting off of the dark canvas. Where I had always imagined this scene with leaves and lots of colors, I now saw the beauty of the bare tree trunks against the darkness on the calm, windless water. I immediately knew this was going to be a massive panorama.

Eleven tightly framed images at 200mm stitched together created a huge file of around 15,000 by 6,000 pixels. I then tweaked the resolution slightly and ordered a 60"x30" canvas print of this big guy, making it by far the largest print I've ever created.