In the crisp March air along the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Asheville, patience turned out to be the real subject of Badger’s favorite photograph this week. I had driven up before dusk, bundled against the lingering winter bite, and planted my tripod at a familiar overlook as the sun slid behind the farthest ridges. Most passersby had already headed home, convinced the show was over once the orb dipped below the horizon. But I stayed, knowing from experience that the true magic often arrives in those quiet minutes afterward, when the sky doesn’t just glow, but ignites.
And ignite it did. With the direct sun gone, the remaining clouds caught the last refracted rays and layered them in vivid bands of fiery orange, deep rose, and soft lavender that stretched across the entire western sky. Below, the blue-green ridges above Hominy Valley stood in crisp silhouette, each successive range fading into deeper haze like watercolor washes. The result, captured in this image, is a reminder that the best light in the mountains sometimes demands that we wait for the day to officially end – proof that a little discomfort and a lot of faith can deliver something even brighter than the sunset itself.
Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at instagram.com/honeybadgerimages.
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