Mountain Biking In Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains | Roanoke, VA

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains have it all when it comes to biking. The trails welcome riders of all levels and interests; paved greenways for beginners, expert-level mountain trails, black diamond single tracks, back country trails with hike a bike, kid-friendly trails, accessible trails for hand cycling, and gravel. For tonight’s shoot we chose Mill Mountain, a 1,300ft mountain situated directly over downtown Roanoke, VA.

Roanoke, Virginia has become known for their award-winning mountain biking trails, becoming one of just four states to have three IMBA-designated Ride Centers. Roanoke Ride Center has received a Silver Level Status, the only destination on the East Coast to achieve this ranking, and Richmond and Harrisonburg have both been recognized as Bronze Level mountain biking destinations.

McAfee's Knob Sunrise Morning Hike

An early morning sunrise hike on the Appalachian Trail just outside of Roanoke, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains to capture the sunrise at McAfee's Knob. McAfee's Knob is the most photographed location on the Appalachian Trail. Hiking McAfee's Knob is not hard at all. The hike offers two ways up to the top; a fire road of compact dirt and small rocks, and a more rugged trail with roots, big stone steps, and some mud.

blue ridge mountains photography

Hiking with a camera takes some effort. You want to bring your best camera, all of your lenses, a filter or two, and a tripod, but then you realize your hike is 5,8,12,15 mile round trip hike. Packing light when hiking is key. When camping or hiking my outdoor camera setup consists of 1 camera body and 1 lens.

Hiking with a tripod

Although a tripod would’ve been nice on this early morning sunrise hike, it would’ve been heavy and cumbersome to carry. Instead of carrying a tripod for slow exposure shots I always:

• Find a rock to balance my camera on

• Increase my ISO

• Photograph slightly under exposed and increase exposure or shadows in post production

Roanoke Headshot Photographer

Since moving to Roanoke, Virginia, I haven’t photographed all that much. Last Sunday, I changed that “streak” with my first headshot session and I quickly became a “Roanoke Professional Photographer”.

Kuei, photographed above, is our neighbor and a professional software developer. Monika told her I photograph professionally in New York and she asked if I’d be interested in taking her photo. She wanted a headshot photo she could use in her email signature, contact card, and LinkedIn.

So, I setup my mobile headshot studio right in her garage and within a couple of minutes I was ready to go. We tried a few different looks and I always asked Kuei for her feedback; glasses, no glasses, jacket, and no jacket. After the backdrop photos we walked 15feet behind me to the outdoors.

For our outdoor headshot photos, I brought one light outside with a small diffuser. I used the sun as a hair light and the woods as a background. The headshots above are lightly edited and retouched removing hair fly aways and oil spots.