It has been a long hot summer but finally the temperatures are cooling off and the motivation to get back out and start shooting is there again. To start off the fall season I wanted to visit a spot that has long been on my visit list in Georgia. The wife and I decided to make a half day trip out of it and headed up to Brasstown Bald a little after noon from Atlanta.

Knowing I wanted to shoot sunset and stars we were in no rush to get there as sunset time was listed as 7:40 PM and arrived around 6:00 PM. The disadvantage to this is the parking lot is about 1 mile down the hill from the top of Brasstown Bald and the observation deck and shuttles stop running at 5:00 PM. So 1 mile up the hill and we were there in time to get our bearings and setup for shooting sunset.

As anyone who shoots travel photography knows sunsets can be hit or miss but fortunately this time the forecast was right and the sunset was a stunner.

As the sun faded away the stars started to come into view and eventually we were able to make out the Milky Way. I knew I would like this spot but I really love that you can shoot some amazing views at sunset and then wait around to shoot some of the darkest skies in Georgia. It really makes the hike up the hill extra worth it.

Finally after shooting stars, the trek back to the car. This though is much easier going down than it was coming up and it helps to be carrying some really great images back with you after a successful shoot.