My first Great Smoky Mountain spring workshop, timed to capture the emergence of spring in the nations most visited park, was a great success in that we were able to shoot many different things in a short period. This time of year the dogwoods are in bloom, the streams are at their fullest, wildflowers line the roads, the trees go from bare to full, and crowds are manageable.The weather was mixed and included only one completely sunny day during the four-day period. However, since the emphasis was on shooting in the best place for any given condition, there really is no bad weather just a variety of shooting conditions that we were able to take advantage of. As part of my general shooting strategy, always go for the sunrise and sunset shot at the first opportunity since you never know what tomorrows weather will bring, we began our short adventure with a sunrise shoot at the top of Clingmans Dome (see first image above). The weather there was crystal clear and allowed perfect conditions to capture this unique sunrise location, also one of my personal favorite places. From there we moved to a second location where 45 minutes later there is a another sunrise shot as the fireball clears the horizon, and from there to the Ogle Cabins to shoot outside before the light clears the ridge and gets hot followed by shooting inside the cabins when the light is too hot. After that, breakfast!!!
The shooting during the workshop segment of my trip included Clingmans Dome, Greenbrier, Treemont, Little River, and of course Cades Cove. One of my favorite sunrise locations in Cades Cove, Sparks Lane, has lost its luster since they replaced the fence posts with new wood and also left some of the old posts standing next to the new ones creating ugly distractions. Hopefully, the park will remove the old posts and in a few years the new wood will age and look good enough to become a favorite sunrise location again. This was truly sad since for those that know how to work this spot there are several different shots before and after the fireball clears the horizon. What was noticeably absent in Cades Cove the entire trip was fog - even after a rainy day and/or night.
On rainy days we went into Cades Cove to shoot inside the old cabins and churches. Cades Cove had especially good dogwoods this year as well as wildlife including deer, turkey and we even got our Black Bear shot in the cove – which we had to earn since it was d
ark and raining when we shot him. The Treemont area was not as nice as it was the previous year since the dogwoods seems to peek and fade early so we lost that signature look. In addition to shooting we also made time for some computer work including doing some HDR and Blending Techniques for both white balance and/or exposure (I will be posting an article on Blending on my website soon).
After the workshop I stayed on to continue shooting and also do some scouting. One day I drove/scouted for 17 hours and 250 miles, beginning and ending the day with a sunrise and sunset shoot at Clingmans Dome while in-between I scouted the southern area of the park. That day I visited places like the Mingus Mill, Mingo Falls (the largest waterfall in the park at 80 feet), and the Cataloochee section. I visited Clingmans Dome a total of four times, once for sunset, three times for sunrise, and on one very cold, below freezing, morning about 20 minutes before sunrise the weather turned as strong winds picked up (knocking down my tripod), a cloud dropped down and we had a brief period of snow. All this cleared about 15-20 minutes after sunrise and the temp was about 20F with the wind chill. I also visited Mortons Overlook twice for sunset. The first sunset was a dud as a layer of clouds moved in to block the fireball the last 15 minutes but the afterglow of crimson light as dusk was really special. The next night I returned and conditions for sunset were perfect since it had rained an hour earlier so the clouds had dissipated but the moisture created a slight fog which helped separate the valleys nicely after sunset.
You can see some of my favorite captures for the 2009 trip here, and galleries from all my GSM trips here. I hope you can join me next April for my 2010 workshop.
ark and raining when we shot him. The Treemont area was not as nice as it was the previous year since the dogwoods seems to peek and fade early so we lost that signature look. In addition to shooting we also made time for some computer work including doing some HDR and Blending Techniques for both white balance and/or exposure (I will be posting an article on Blending on my website soon).After the workshop I stayed on to continue shooting and also do some scouting. One day I drove/scouted for 17 hours and 250 miles, beginning and ending the day with a sunrise and sunset shoot at Clingmans Dome while in-between I scouted the southern area of the park. That day I visited places like the Mingus Mill, Mingo Falls (the largest waterfall in the park at 80 feet), and the Cataloochee section. I visited Clingmans Dome a total of four times, once for sunset, three times for sunrise, and on one very cold, below freezing, morning about 20 minutes before sunrise the weather turned as strong winds picked up (knocking down my tripod), a cloud dropped down and we had a brief period of snow. All this cleared about 15-20 minutes after sunrise and the temp was about 20F with the wind chill. I also visited Mortons Overlook twice for sunset. The first sunset was a dud as a layer of clouds moved in to block the fireball the last 15 minutes but the afterglow of crimson light as dusk was really special. The next night I returned and conditions for sunset were perfect since it had rained an hour earlier so the clouds had dissipated but the moisture created a slight fog which helped separate the valleys nicely after sunset.
You can see some of my favorite captures for the 2009 trip here, and galleries from all my GSM trips here. I hope you can join me next April for my 2010 workshop.
