2016 Smoky Mountain road trip - Recap
Greeting everyone!
April 2016 I took a road trip to Tennessee with the intent of photographing the great Smoky Mountains. Being a photo trip, I knew that meant relaxation would take a back seat to waking at 4am every day just to catch the perfect lighting conditions. Hiking miles up mountains carrying photo equipment in the the dark isn't always the most fun thing to do, but that's the cost of doing business.For 5 days a small group of photography lovers got together to follow a grueling agenda in a variety of weather conditions. It rained on several days, but that didn't stop us... we just put bags around our cameras and kept on shooting!
Morton's Overlook using a tripod and long exposure.
Morton's Overlook using a few on-camera filters and a long exposure. I like how you can see the headlights from the cars driving on the road in the valley.
Morton's Overlook using a few different on-camera filters and a long exposure.
Cades Cove on a rainy morning.
Cades Cove with some photoshop magic.
Cades Cove using my Lensbaby lens - On the surface, this is just a field with some trees and mountains hidden behind the fog. When I look at this, I'm reminded of being an awkwardly shaped kid, and being singled out by angst filled youths.
Cades Cove using my Lensbaby lens - I really like this one... the mountains are hidden behind the fog... it was surreal seeing the fog roll over into the valley.
Cades Cove and some photoshop magic
A settler's ranch in Cades Cove.
Taken from the observatory at Clingmans Dome... the hike was short but tough, and well worth it! The mountains were holding back a sea of clouds.
Sunset - Taken from the observatory at Clingmans Dome
Taken from the observatory at Clingmans Dome
Taken from the observatory at Clingmans Dome
The cabin I stayed it! This shot is composed of about 100 shots to capture the rotation of the earth.
Grotto Falls - this was the site of a new nickname due to some idiocy on my part... explanation is further down
Grotto Falls from a distance
Clingmans Dome on another day
Clingmans dome with a few on-camera filters in the evening
On the road back from Clingmans Dome, there's a corcscrew in the road where you loop around go back under the road... Looked like the perfect place for some long night shots! This was about 30 to 45 second exposure.
Oconaluftee overlook
Oconaluftee overlook
Oconaluftee overlook!!!
Oconaluftee overlook - so quiet... so beautiful!
Mingo Falls - North Carolina
Alone in the park, waiting for cars to pass... photo achieved by taking a 30 second exposure at night.
I remember whistling loudly to scare off wildlife as I was waiting for cars to pass every few minutes.
That cork screw again... just different angles... It's amazing how scary it get when you're standing on the side of the road in the pitch dark waiting for cars to dive by... every crash in the woods and howl from wildlife made my heart beat a little faster...
Grotto Falls again - with a Llama train taking supplies up to a resort that's only accessible via this trail. This is what caused my new nickname for the trip... When we first went to this spot, we were closely followed by the train, so I didn't have enough time to setup and get the shots I wanted. Even after I warned my party members to check their camera settings, I failed to do so in time. We had taken night photos the evening before, and I hadn't had a chance to change my settings to something more appropriate to daylight. That being the case, the 3 photos I was able to fire off ended up taking about 10 seconds each, which yielded completely white photos. This meant that I had to come back on my own a few days later to capture these shots. That spawned the nickname "Redo-Dan", because there were a few other places I went back to on my own to retake shots I had failed at on previous days... good times!
Somewhere down the road from Grotto falls... this shot took far too long to set up, as I was standing in the middle of the river, trying to position the tripod in such a way that my gear didn't spill into the rushing water below.
Mortons Overlook again!
Mortons Overlook
Mortons Overlook
All in all it was a great time, and I'd recommend going at least once in your life!!!
Have a great day!
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Daniel A. Sandy