One of the many nice things about living near the Blue Ridge Parkway is that one learns to recognize the weather conditions that are likely to produce interesting photographic opportunities of our beloved mountain region. This photo resulted from just such a situation. After a day-long August rain, the skies began to clear and temperatures began to drop in late afternoon. I expected clouds to concentrate beneath the peaks, and when I arrived at this favorite spot on the Parkway near Blowing Rock, I found the scene almost exactly as I anticipated. The sun, though not visible behind the clouds, nevertheless served to add color and further interest to the scene as it lit the bottom of the distant cloud layers. Conveniently, the closer, more low-lying clouds were not at all camera shy; rather, they lingered for over an hour as I exposed frame after frame -- a great way to end the work day.