On my recent trip to Tennessee, I spent some time photographing in two of my favorite areas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – in Cades Cove and at the Ogle Cabin.
Cades Cove is one of the most popular areas of the park. It has a one-way 11 loop road that takes visitors through valleys, past cabins and barns, and offers a chance to see the wildlife in the park.
One of the scenes I’ve been trying to photograph for years was trees in the early morning mist and fog in the valley. This year, I finally managed to get a few photos that I’m happy with.
One of the old farms complete with out building has been restored and is open to visitors near the visitor center. Here are a couple of photos I took in the Smokehouse at the farm.
Another area I love to photograph in the park is at the Ogle Cabin at the start of the Motor Nature Trail accessible from downtown Gatlinburg. These are a few photos I took of the cabin and the barn this year.
I’m back from a wonderful week photographing in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. This is one my favorite regions of the country to visit and photograph, so I was thrilled to be back in the area. Usually when I’m in the area, I mainly photograph wildflowers. This trip was a little different, I spent my time photographing the landscape. I thought I’d share a few of my photos from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Pisgah National Forest with you today.
One of my favorite things to photograph in the Smoky Mountains in the spring is the water rushing down the hillsides. In the summer, some of the streams are mere trickles of water – in the spring they are overflowing with water roaring over the rocks on the hillsides. I photographed this stream last spring on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’d been out photographing when it started to rain. Fortunately it was just a drizzle so when I spotted the stream surrounded by the green trees with the water tumbling over the moss covered rocks I was able to stop and photograph it. Every time I return to favorite photo locations in the Smokies I always find something new to photograph there – I can’t wait to see how this stream looks next spring.
Instead of telling you all about them, I realized the easiest way for me to explain was to show you. So I created a short video with photographs of some of the wildflowers I have photographed in the Smokies in the spring.
I still have a few spaces left in my April 26-30 Spring in the Smokies workshop. Drop me a note if you’d like to photograph wildflowers with me this spring.
When I headed to the Great Smoky Mountains last month, I wasn’t sure what I’d find to photograph.
In January 2011, there was lots of snow. – So much snow that I couldn’t visit several sections of the park – the roads were closed. This year, while it was cold, there wasn’t much snow. Much to my surprise – I found incredible beauty to photograph.
On my second night in Gatlinburg, the weather forecast was for rain, turning to freezing rain, turning to snow. So depending on the temperature, there was a chance of a good snowfall. As it turned out, less than 1/2 an inch of snow fell, but it still gave me a chance to photograph a snow-covered leaf.
As I explored the park that day, I discovered that the freezing rain was creating more photographic opportunities than the snow fall had. The rain was heavy enough, and the temperature dropped quickly enough, that plants were covered in ice.
The plants looked like they were part of a winter wonderland.
As I hiked a trail, enjoying the solitude of being along in what is usually a very crowded park, I came across some ice formations. I’d never seen anything like them before. What struck me was how delicate and beautiful the ice was.
As I photographed the ice, I realized what I was trying to show in my photos from this trip – the cold, the quiet – and most of the unexpected beauty.
I was also capturing scenes that no one else was likely to see. As the temperature rose and the ice melted, the scenes I photographed disappeared. And while they may have refrozen the next night – it would have been into something different from what I had photographed.
The Smokies have always been a very special place for me to visit. I love the wildflowers in the spring, the lush forest and rushing streams of summer, and the colors of fall. I always meet wonderful people on the trails and around the park.
