It’s challenging to show up at the same spot countless other photographers have stood before you, and capture a unique image that could have only been captured at that moment. If you’ve ever seen a photo of the New River Gorge Bridge in Beckley, West Virginia — chances are fairly high it was from this vantage point. I normally don’t get excited when it comes to taking a photograph from a spot where 100 people with cell phones took snapshots earlier that day.

After a heavy snowfall the night before, the sun came out in mid morning and the entire region had this surreal “painted” kind of a look. What I really like about this photo compared to most images from this vantage point is how the freshly fallen snow and angle of the sun really accentuate the contours and shape of the New River Gorge surrounding the bridge. It is very different from the typical shots I’ve seen with full foliage.

The single semi truck I captured helps break up the monotony of the image, while conveying the sense of vast length of the bridge. The colors of the truck, with the dirty salt-covered white trailer balances nice with the dirty plowed snow along the sides of the road, while the bright red cab shares the same warmth in color tone as the steel beams holding up the bridge.

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