The Photographer's Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway: Where to Find Perfect Shots and How to Take Them

There are currently four photography books published for photographing the Blue Ridge Parkway: the PhotoSecrets series for Virginia and North Carolina by Andrew Hudson, Photographer’s Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway by Jim Hargan and Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway by Nye Simmons. I bought all four and my hope is to review them all at once and make comparisons. Note that although Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway is not promoted as a photography book, that’s what it secretly wants to be, and I will review it that way.This book covers both Virginia and North Carolina and is divided into nine sections. Each section starts with a general description and information on facilities and places to eat and sleep. These are followed by a series of mileposts and usually a photo. Sometimes a milepost will actually be a range, such as “Shenandoah Valley Views, Milepost 8 to Milepost 11”. Sometimes this sections will be referred to as a “String of Pearls”, which apparently is an official park designation for a series of viewpoints.This book wasn’t very impressive, although that is partly just due to the fact that the other books are much better. First, as others have mentioned the pictures are harsh and poor quality. Although that in itself doesn’t bother me too much. At least it gives me an idea of what to expect.But the main problem is that there isn’t all that much information. The book is only 96 pages, and the first 24 pages talk about photography. So there is really only 72 pages of information and that has to cover both Virginia and North Carolina. In addition, not all viewpoints include a picture, so you will have to go there and find out if it’s worth your time or not. Also, there is no information on the best time of day, or time of year. Although some places may talk about flowers.The descriptions almost read more like a guide book than a photography book.However, this book does have one feature that I like that the other books are missing. At the end of the book there a “Favorites” section, such as favorite sunrise/sunset locations, favorite waterfalls, favorite mills, etc. This might be especially useful for somebody with limited time that only wants to hit the highlights.As I said in my other reviews, for pure photography information I would rate the PhotoSecrets series as the best, with the Best of Blue Ridge book being a close second. You might consider this one as a supplement just for the favorites section.Having said that, if you are limited for time you might actually prefer this book because it is concise, rather than searching through pages and pages of information that you won’t have time to see anyway.

I'm a photographer and have spent days on the southern sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I not only own this book, but also Nye Simmons guide. for the southern sections of the parkway, there is no comparison - Hargan has much better guidance about photography on the parkway. But it's not perfect.The thing that Hargan does well is providing specific suggestions for sunrise, sunset, and other times of day. The southern sections of the parkway cover a lot of ground, and while there are generally lots of good panoramic views to the south, there are not that many good sunrise and sunset locations. Hargan does a good job of mentioning specific locations. I'd like to see a bit more detail, but you don't want to have the same image everyone else has.In comparison, Nye Simmons guide seems to be more of a touring guide than a photography guide. That's fine if your goal is to tour the parkway, but if you want to spend 3-4 days photographing a specific area, you need a lot better information.There are pros and cons to both books. For example, both authors mention Devil's Courthouse at MP 422.4. Simmons describes the location and mentions the viewing of the hawk migration in September - but provides no mention of the time of day to photograph the area. Hargan provides specific information about photographing the location - best in mid afternoon. This location is terrible for morning photography of the rock formation since the subject is backlit and dark, but in mid to late afternoon you get nice warm light hitting the rock face.On the other hand, about 2 miles from Devil's Courthouse at mile 420.2 is the Black Balsam Knob area. This is a large area with extensive areas for hiking and camping. One of the highlights is a 1 mile hike to Black Balsam Knob - with 360 degree views, great flowers from May through September, and wonderful rock formations. Simmons provides a nice description of the area, but his photo advice is simply "all offer outstanding scenery and have much photographic potential." Even worse - Hargan does not mention the area at all. But if you are willing to hike a couple of miles, Simmon's reference more accurately sets the tone that it is a terrific photo location for all times except the middle of the day.My rating reflects the priority Hargan places on photography rather than touring. While not perfect, this is the book I prefer for tips on good photo locations.

Really good high level view of photographing the blue ridge parkway. It doesn’t show every single place, instead use the “Photo Secrets” books for that, but this book offers a good overview of the experience of photography on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and highlights several iconic places. The pictures in the book are really excellent. Unfortunately in my copy they all looked overexposed, but I think that was due to the printing of the book itself, not the author, who I think has a real skill in composition. Each picture for me was an example of perfect composition. I bought this book along with the Photo Secrets books for VA and NC sections of the BRP, and I was glad I had both. Read this book first, then use the Photo Secrets to get even more details.