by hankinslawrenceimages | May 6, 2015 | Flowers, Tennessee, Wildflowers
I’m back in Bethesda from a fantastic photo trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – and unfortunately I came down with a case of shingles when I got home – so I haven’t had a chance to do any editing of my photos since I got home. So I thought I’d share some of the photos I did some quick edits on while I was on the road and shared on Facebook during my trip. Here are a few of the wildflowers I photographed in the Smokies.
Wild Bleeding Hearts – dicentra eximia
Wild Bleeding Hearts – dicentra eximia © 2015 Patty Hankins
Fire Pinks – Silene Virginica
Fire Pinks – Silene Virginica © 2015 Patty Hankins
Pink Lady’s Slippers – cypripedium acaule
Pink lady’s slippers – cypripedium acaule © 2015 Patty Hankins
Pink lady’s slippers – cypripedium acaule © 2015 Patty Hankins
Yellow Lady’s slipper – cypripedium pubsecens
Yellow Lady’s slipper – cypripedium pubsecens © 2015 Patty Hankins
Carey’s Saxifrage – saxifraga careyana
Carey’s Saxifrage – saxifraga careyana © 2015 Patty Hankins
Solomon’s Plume & Puple Phacelia
Solomon’s Plume & Puple Phacelia © 2015 Patty Hankins
Violets by a stream
Violets by a stream © 2015 Patty Hankins
I’ll share some of my landscapes and other photos from my trip later in the week.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Feb 23, 2015 | Workshops
Yellow Trillium & Purple Phacelia © 2009 Patty Hankins
Today is your last chance to save $ 100 on your registration for my Spring in the Smokies workshop. Prices go up tomorrow.
I would love to have you join me from April 26-30 in my favorite national park at my favorite time of year for this landscape and nature photography workshop. If you’re wondering why I’m offering this workshop in April – be sure to check out my Top 5 Reasons to Photograph in the Smokies in the Spring.
If you have any questions about the workshop – drop me a note and we’ll find a time to talk to see if this is the right workshop for you.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Feb 20, 2015 | Flowers, News, Wildflowers, Workshops
Some of you have heard me talking about how wonderful it is to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the spring for years. It’s my favorite national park – and late April is my favorite time of the year to visit. But just in case you haven’t heard me raving about the Smokies in the spring, I thought I’d share my top 5 reasons to photograph in the Smokies in the spring.
5. The entire park is open!!! Several of my favorite sections of the park including the Motor Nature Trail and the road to Clingman’s Dome are closed in the winter. By late April, everything in the park is open and I can photograph sunrises like this from the parking lot at Clingman’s Dome.
Smoky Mountain Sunrise © Patty Hankins
4. You can cause a Dogwood Jam!!!! If you’ve been to any of the national parks known for their wildlife, you’ve likely been caught in a bear jam or moose jam (a huge traffic jam caused when people see photographers along the side of the road with their cameras on tripods with long lenses). While bear jams are pretty common in the Smokies too, it’s the only park where I’ve caused a Dogwood Jam when I was photographing some dogwood blossoms in the woods with my long lens. About 10 cars parked behind my car, and several people came running over with their cameras asking “Where’s the bear?” You can just imagine the looks on their faces when I told them no bear – and that I was photographing the dogwood blossoms.
American Dogwood © 2013 Patty Hankins
3. Mountain streams!!! One of the wonderful photographic subjects in the Smokies is all the wonderful flowing water. From mountain streams to waterfalls, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of photographs of water just waiting to be taken in the park.
Smoky Mountain Stream © Patty Hankins
2. Great no-hike photo opportunities!!! There’s nothing like hiking in the mountains and seeing scenes that most people never see. When I’m in the Smokies, it’s not uncommon for me to hike a few miles up and back on a trail. But you don’t have to take long hikes to find wonderful photo opportunities in the park. All the photos in this article were taken within 100 feet of the side of the roads in the park.
Crested Dwarf Iris and Star Chickweed © 2009 Patty Hankins
1. Wildflowers!!!! My top reason for visiting the Smokies in the spring is the wildflowers. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the most biologically diverse places in the country. There are literally hundreds of different wildflowers that bloom in the park from March through October. The peak bloom and what the Smokies are best known for are the Spring Ephemerals the bloom briefly in the spring, usually in late April.
Yellow Trillium & Purple Phacelia © 2009 Patty Hankins
I am really looking forward to trip to the Smokies this spring. Bill and I would love to have you join us for our Spring in the Smokies workshop from April 26-30.
Early Bird Registration for the workshop ends on February 23 – and the registration fee will go up on February 24. So register now and save if you want to join me in the Smokies this spring.
by hankinslawrenceimages | Dec 16, 2014 | Workshops
This is the photography workshop I’ve always wanted to teach. I fell in love with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the first time I visited. My love for the park has grown with each subsequent visit.
April in the Smokies means peak wildflower season, wonderful streams and waterfalls surrounding by bright green foliage and hopefully beautiful sunrises. Really, does photography get any better than this?
Join Bill and me for 3 ½ days of photographing in my favorite National Park at my favorite time of year.
This workshop is for you if you . .
- Appreciate beautiful places and capturing their memories
- Enjoy spending time in nature
- Embrace the opportunity to spend time with and learn from like-minded photographers
- Seek personal guidance as you improve your wildflower and landscape photography skills
- Have the vision but can’t get your gear to cooperate
At the Workshop you will . . .
- Have a great time photographing in the magnificent Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Compose photographs that allow you to share what caught your eye in the field
- Express your vision
- Capture the beauty you see in your photographs
We’ll be based out of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and start our time together on Sunday evening to go over the schedule and a few details for the workshop. We’ll photograph in the park from Monday through Thursday morning. Some of the locations we’ll be photographing at include Cades Cove, Clingman’s Dome (weather permitting) and some of my favorite wildflower locations.
We won’t just be photographing in the field. Each day we’ll gather mid-day for talks on subjects such as “What Caught Your Eye”, “Sharing a 3-Dimensional Scene in a 2-Dimensional Image” and “What Is that Wildflower?”. Bonus! You will also have a private consultation with one of us about your next steps on your path to becoming a better photographer. We’ll end on Thursday morning with a slideshow of participant photos from the workshop.
We’re limiting the workshop to 7 participants to ensure that we’re able to give each of you the personalized attention you should get in a photography workshop.
All the details including registration information is available on my website.
Not sure if this workshop is right for you? Drop me an email and we’ll find a time to talk.
I’d love to have you join me in the Smokies this spring.
Hope to see you there
by hankinslawrenceimages | Dec 14, 2009 | Flowers, Wildflowers
One of my favorite summer wildflowers is the Cardinal flower (lobelia cardinalis). I just love the bright red flowers. They add a great splash of color in late summer and early fall.
This year, I photographed Cardinal flowers in two locations. The first was a single cardinal flower along the Little Brier Gap Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in late July. This was the only Cardinal flower I saw on my summer trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway and in the Smokies.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
A few weeks later, I found one more Cardinal flower at the Wild Gardens of Acadia in Maine’s Acadia National Park.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
I’m hoping that next summer I’ll be able to find a group of Cardinal flowers growing together. I suspect that would make a fantastic photograph.
