Hunting the Unreal
Photographer Randall Sanger captures the hidden beauty in West Virginia’s wildest places. It isn’t quite dawn, and the gibbous moon is still high overhead. But Randall Sanger is already up, standing far outside the lanky shadow of the New River Gorge Bridge with his camera pack over both shoulders. He’s getting ready to climb a mighty hill, eyeing the sky and hoping—praying—for a milky cloud or some light fog to diffuse the coming sunrise. Otherwise it’ll be too bright to shoot the bridge at its best and he might as well forget the dangerous trek he’s about to make. “For folks who aren’t as in shape, it’s a difficult scramble. I don’t recommend it for everyone,” he says. “It’s crazy in the middle of the day. Going up by headlamp before dawn is,” he laughs, “tough.” Five minutes after his plea to the heavens, a few clouds and some slow-moving fog enter stage right and left. That’s his cue. “It took me about 25 minutes to get up there. Had to crawl a section of it, pulling myself up with exposed tree roots and rhododendrons branches.” By the time he gets his bearings at the top of the bluff, what climbers call the Sunshine Buttress, the clouds and fog have completely obscured the sky. Randall takes a moment to rephrase his prayers. “I had to laugh and say, ‘OK, maybe not this many clouds.’” Thirty minutes more and the obstructions clear just enough to frame the newly risen sun. To the naked eye the scene is already breathtaking. Cool blue early dawn skies and a thin layer of fog mingle with clouds, forcing the light into dramatic beams and shadows beneath the bridge. Below, the valley is a patchwork of fall reds, browns, and yellows sloping down to the river. It’s a once-ina-lifetime shot, and Randall’s got a knack for recognizing this sort of thing. The photo, aptly named Sunshine Buttress Sunrise, is now among his favorites. “I think it’s due to the effort it took to get there. And the proof that the good Lord has visitaotg.com 85