WILD IN THE COVE

ISO 100, f/20, 1/3 second, 19mm

  What a great morning of photography in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with my buddy Tim Owens today!  We were hoping that some of the ground fog that had been occurring in the mornings from cool overnight temperatures would be prevalent in the Cove and make for some dramatic images.
  Unfortunately, the fog was more like a thin haze that only hung around the base of the mountains and not in the extremely colorful fields in the Cove.
  We did, however, find the wildflowers in Cades Cove were quite abundant for early fall. These beautiful yellow wildflowers were blooming in very large groups (I will have a shot of these groups in a later post) and in some cases were growing extremely tall like these in my image. Combined with the yellow weeds that were everywhere in these fields made for a complete sea of yellow and green leading back to the misty mountains in the background.

DOWN THE CENTER

ISO 100, f/11, 1/4 second, 19mm

  One of the "rules" of photography is to never place your horizon in the center of the frame. Usually this rule is a good one to go by.
  When shooting a reflections of the sky as in today's post, it can be customary to break this rule and place the horizon in the center of the frame in order to capitalize on the full reflection of the amazing sky.
  This was taken Thursday right after some incredible light passed through. Unfortunately, the light didn't hang around for this shot, but the clouds in the sky were incredible.

GREAT WAY TO START

ISO 1600, f/20, 1/125 second, 19mm

Got to start off the day yesterday with a tremendous sunrise while arriving at work. I actually missed peak color, as usual, for driving my daughter to school but quickly set up and captured the sun peaking over the horizon on a wonderful morning. Was in such a hurry I didn't realize my ISO settings were on 1600. Oops.

SUNRISE EXPLOSION

ISO 100, f/20, 1/40 second, 19mm

 I'll say it again, TWI being located on Tellico Lake provides me with some of the most incredible  sunrises anyone could ask for. I took this shot back in June with an incredible set of clouds hovering over the lake as I came in one morning.
  Normally, I don't like to shoot clear shots of the sun once it clears the horizon. It usually is way to bright and over powers the scene. For some reason, this morning in June did not work out that way and made a great sunburst opposing the dramatic clouds.

MOON OVER HAPPY VALLEY

ISO 100, f/20, 1 second, 19mm

  My first trip to Look Rock on the Foothills Parkway was an uneventful sunrise. After the sun made it's way above the horizon, though, some neat cloud formations happened through Happy Valley. From this vantage point, which is at the actual Look Rock Overlook, it looked like the clouds were all moving in the direction of the moon that was hovering just above the horizon.
  The clouds also seemed to take the shape of the mountains that framed the foggy, low-lying areas of the valley.

SHINING THROUGH

ISO 100, f/20, 1/30 second, 19mm

  Sunday morning +Tim Owens and I did some photog'ing along the Foothills Parkway along side the Great Smoky Mountains. After shooting some great long exposures involving the moon and some fast moving clouds, we stopped at a couple of overlooks and this one was tremendous!
  We were treated to a light show with the rising sun and some cloud cover from the rain that passed by earlier that morning.
  This particular overlook provided us with a neat lone tree to use as foreground interest as well. They had just cleared out the heavy brush underneath so that there was a clear view. Man was it awesome!

MOONLIGHT OVER LOOK ROCK

ISO 200, f/20, 30 Seconds, 19mm

  This morning my good friend Tim Owens and I went up to Look Rock on the Foothill Parkway to photograph the sunrise. The sunrise, unfortunately, was a dud from the observing platform. The full moon, however, was a huge hit.
  The moon, although it wasn't a completely full moon, was shining extremely bright down over the foothills of the Smokies and Maryville, TN. The clouds, right after a rain shower, were moving by at very fast speeds so we used the moon's bright light to turn the darkness into daylight by taking some long exposures.
  This vantage point is looking southwest. The lights you see are from Maryville, TN. The bright skies that are normally black night shine blue like the daylight from the effects of the moon and the long exposure.