Shot in color and *not* converted to B&W. It was just that kind of day. D300 & 18-200 VR (on tripod; VR off) The hemlock skeleton in the background is about 50 feet away.
Hemlock Springs Overlook - Skyline Drive. The hemlock skeleton in the background is an example of what's left of Shenandoah National Park hemlocks following the wooly algedid infestation of a few years ago. Way to go Shenandoah NPS!! Thank goodness the Great Smokey NPS had a bit more sense than to "let nature take its course"; there are still hemlocks to be seen at Great Smokey National Park. They even sell "save the Hemlock" T-shirts. What were you thinking? The same enlightened "thought?" that said to the gypsy moth infestation - no spraying, let nature take its course - and we're left with vast mountain sides of dead oak trees. Yup - way to go. I thought the mission of the NPS was to "preserve". Tree huggers need not apply at Shenandoah it would seem. (Oh oh- I'm liable to fired from my official volunteer photographer post for that tirade.)