Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point along the North Atlantic and the first place to see the sun rise in the United States. I had to leave about 4:00 am from Rockport so I could arrive on top of the mountain at first light. It was in November and on very cold wind was coming off the Atlantic. I set my tripod up in the dark and waited for the sun to raise. Being there to capture the first light was the most important factor in making this a successful image.  

Rain Drops Cades Cove

I shot this photo in a steady rain in Cades Cove. I used a large golf umbrell with my camera mounted on my Bogen tripod. I had to shoot several images in order to get the right amount of ripple action that created an interesting pattern. It is also important to get an angle that produced bright spots that shows the circular action of the rain drops. Setting my custom white balance was important because of the cold color balance from a rainy day.

Cascades Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I used a very sturdy tripod to get this photo of a water fall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. f-22 at 1/2 second on Fujjchrome 50 with a Mamiya 2 1/4 square twin lens using a 50 mm lens.  It was a great camera that had interchangable lens. It was a poor mans Hasselblad and worked great in my college days. When photographing water  and waterfalls a shutter speed of 1/30 or less will show the movement of the water giving a more natural look. Cloudy days are best for water fall photography in the Smoky Mountains. The sun becomes a large light source on a cloudy day so that a much more even light that produces less dark shadows giving more detail even in the middle of the day. On cloudy days I alway set my custom white balances using a white card. The white balance correction helps separate the colors prevents the low color effect you get on cloudy days. 

Buck in Sunrise Cades Cove

The best time to shoot is early morning at first light or late evening at last light. I drove in the fog and dark from my house all the way to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I waited in the dark on the gate to be open into Cades Cove loop road. The Park Service opens the gate as soon the sun starts to rise. The gate was open to a magical sunrise through a thick fog. What a wonderful place to have a camera!! I stop at an area with trees in an open field. I started shooting the sunrise through the trees when suddenly a buck top the hill coming full speed toward me. The deer was startled as much as I was. I had the camera mounted to my tripod so all I had to do was focus on the deer instead of the distance trees. Alway get to your location in the dark before first light.

Foothills Parkway Overlook

This image was taken from Foothills Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains. Using my Bogen 3221 tripod with my 6x7 Pentax Camera with the morris locked up to prevent any camera shake I captured the morning fog that had settled in the valley below in Townsend Tennessee. I used a 60mm fixed lens with Fujjchrome 50 transparence film (yes film "old school"). Early morning is always a great time to shoot if you like good saturation and dynamic light that creates shadows that gives the image a more three-dimensional look. Many times people sleep late or eat a big breakfast before they go out to shoot. By the time they get out it is too late because the sun is higher in the sky causing the light to be flatter which produce low saturation and an overall average and boring photo. Getting to places at first light will improve your landscape 100%!

Aerial Great Smoky Mountains

I shot this image early in the morning at about 6am. Fog was in the valley and the sun was just beginning to light the sky with warm tones. The best light for outdoor photography is morning or evening or first light and last light. The sun being lower in the sky creates warm tones along with light that produces more color saturation. The light is much more exciting because we only see it for a few fleeting moments a day. For best results when shooting outside would be to get to your destination before sun rise then shoot until sun get high in the sky take a good nap then get up and shoot 1 hour before the sun sets. The times will vary with the time of year so find out what time sun set and sun rise is and plan it that way.

Sunset on Mt. LeConte

I guess you could say Mt. LeConte is my favorite hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That could be a problem because I think it is everybodies favorite too. One summer I hike it 13 time then jogged up it once with just a water bottle shorts and t-shirt along with a head lamp for the return down in the dark. I have also photographs a wedding at LeConte. This image was taken with my 6x7 Pentax on Fujichrome  50 film. With this low ISO film I used a tripod and locked my mirror up so I would get a sharp image.