Photos from Great Smoky Mountains National Park
I just got back from my 12th visit in the last nine years to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That puts me at about 100 days in the park since 2013 and about 200 total if you count all the backpacking trips I did before I became a pro photographer. I love the Smokies! I wish I could live there for a full year. What amazes me is that even though I've been in the park for that many days and backpacked hundreds of miles in the park, I haven't explored it all. There's so much to see and do there.
In this issue of my newsletter, I'll share a few pictures from my most recent trip. At the end of the newsletter, I'll talk about my 2023 workshops.
On this trip to the Smokies, we had some of the most difficult weather that I've had during a workshop there. It seemed like sunrise and sunset didn't want to cooperate. Finally, on our final morning, we had the best conditions for the above shot. It's of one of the most iconic locations in the park. We had fog and a clear sky while the dogwood was in bloom. That alignment leads to a great picture. I used a Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer to bring out the golden colors of sunrise. While I don't often use a Gold-N-Blue Polarizer, there are some situations where it works like nothing else can. As a Singh-Ray Ambassador, I can offer you a 10% if you use the code "thathansel" when buying direct from Singh-Ray.
Here's what the sunrise spot looked like. It was our group and a few other locals who were there to shoot it as well.
A quick side note: The man in the blue hat is the photographer who took a picture of a muskrat sitting next to a loon with a turtle on its back. The photo went viral on social media and he ended up on the news. You can gets his book, called Once Upon a Loon, here.
Spring is my favorite season in the Smokies. In spring, you get wildflowers and waterfalls. I love it. Waterfalls and flowers are two of my favorite things to photograph.
The streams and waterfalls are abundant. The one above is right next to a gravel road! Others are just short hikes like the one shown below.
For this trip, I was looking for ways that I personally could photograph the Smokies in different ways than in the past. During workshops, this is more difficult because I check in with the participants and don't concentrate on my personal shooting. With this recent group, all were repeat participants and good photographers. That allowed me to look around for different compositions to share with the group instead of the classics. The shot below is one that I saw and pointed out to the group. Many tried their own takes on this group of Thyme-Leaved Bluets.
I find that by visiting an area over and over that I earn a better connection to the area. By visiting often enough, it starts to feel like home and that relaxes me to open my eyes to photos other than the iconic shots that I wanted to capture on my first or second visit. While I do like visiting new locations, I find just as much if not more value in returning to favorites. When I do return, I end up finding more ways to engage the landscape. That increases my connection to the land.
But those iconic Smoky Mountains sunrises and sunsets. It doesn't get better in the mountains than when you're in the Smokies.
2023 photo workshops open for registration
My 2023 photo workshops are now open for registration. Some have already sold out and a few just have a couple of spaces available on them. There's always a workshop or two that surprise me during the early days of registration. This year, I'm surprised that my Northern Night Skies photo workshop hasn't yet filled. That's usually an early filler. Instead the Night Skies of the Gunflint Trail seemed to get those registrations. Instead of the Smokies next year, I'm heading to the Blue Ridge Parkway. That still has openings on it. With how beautiful it is out there, I was surprised it didn't fill right away.
Until next time
I hope you enjoyed this virtual visit to the Smoky Mountains, and I hope you'll consider returning to a destination that you've visited before. When you do, try to see it in a new way. If you can, you'll develop an new appreciation for it and deepen your connection. I'll see you again in two weeks.
