Category Archives: Ashe County

Photo of the Week – Diane LaBonte

Wet – Gray – Blue – With Just a Touch of Red

Diane LaBonte - Rainy Winter Day

Diane LaBonte - Rainy Winter Day


A day for a fire, a comfortable chair and a good book-that’s the thought that comes to mind when viewing this excellent capture by Diane LaBonte. The rain sheeting down the glass panes is consistent to provide an overall distortion while maintaining enough clarity to make the scene easily recognizable. The excessive blue cast created by the thick clouds would be corrected for a different scene but here it’s perfect to accent the bleakness of the day. The most remarkable component of this photograph is the very careful framing, keeping the camera not only level but square with the window mullions-no converging lines to spoil the scene and distract the eye.
Diane’s camera was a Canon T1i using a Canon EF-S18/55mm f/2.5-5.6 IS lens zoomed to 55mm. 1/50 sec was the shutter speed and the aperture selected was a high f/25 to make both the near mullions and the distant elements sharply in focus. The high ISO of 1600 may have added some noise but that could be considered a good thing for this particular shot.

Photo of the Week – Patrick Considine

Early May Spring Green in Ashe

Pat Considine - Atop Bluff Mountain at Perkins Rock

Pat Considine - Atop Bluff Mountain at Perkins Rock

“The image is from Perkins Rock overlook on Bluff Mountain, looking down into Buffalo Valley. The early spring green turns gray as it climbs to the top of Three Top Mountain. The sky cooperated with wonderful clouds that shadow the ground and created great color in the sky”, is Pat’s description of this early May capture of mountain ridges in Ashe County. The camera is a Nikon D80 fitted with an 18-135mm f/3.5-5/6 lens at 31mm. The aperture selected was f/22 and the shutter speed 1/250 sec, both indicating a very bright day. Oddly enough the ISO was a high 1100. For making a large print with maximum sharpness and low noise, an aperture in the f/8 to f/11 range with a low ISO of 200 would have been preferable. This is a fine portrait of the mountains we call home.