Fall in the Smokys 2012

Fall is a favorite time to go - anywhere! But, especially to those special places in our National Parks. Changing elevations bring the colors of the leaves in different places. Right now at the first part of November there is snow on the ground - as much as 3 feet I am told. I was in the park when the this snow began to fall on October 28. But, first I shot this photograph on the Tennessee side of the mountains. At lower elevations that day you could find green leaves in some places and at upper elevations the leaves had already fallen and only tree branches remained for the most part. Even in November there may be colorful  leaves that remain on the trees in some places right up until Thanksgiving. Last year I took photos of colored leaves in snow in the middle of November. After November Beech trees keep their golden brown leaves all winter long. So, there is an opportunity to photograph them among bare surrounding trees all winter long even with snow on the ground. Copies of this photo may be purchased. So, if you are interested please don't hesitate to contact me and we can discuss your needs.

This was a fun Photography project.

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Here is a photo project I made for Mountain Nature & Wild Bird Supply. Like nearly everyone else I like sunsets in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

He said, If we leave right now we can get there by 6 o'clock. She said, It will be to dark to take pictures.
He said, I can take pictures after dark.

Within minutes we closed the store, it was 4:36. We were on our way to Georgia's Valley of the Giants. She had scanned some old photos of the trees from the early '80s but, the scans didn't turn out that great and we needed some fresh photos for the March issue of the Georgia Mountain Laurel. She was writing the story and now I was shooting the fresh pictures.
Using our GPS we were on our way.

We arrived right at 6 pm with a mile to hike in before the sun went down. The mountains were already hiding the sun and daylight didn't look that promising.

I went ahead carrying my camera bag and tripod. Walking a quick mile left me a bit breathless. I finally arrived at the first giant tree, set up the camera and tripod pushed the button, did the 10 second rush for a self portrait with the tree. It worked but, I wanted a bigger tree. Jean had caught up and passed me by then and was on to find a bigger tree. The trail now was less traveled and there were logs blocking the trail here and there. We hurried on to the next giant. When we arrived was just about dark.

Once again, I set up the tripod and snapped off some photos, quickly determining, I would need a 20 second exposure to capture the remaining light for the photo. I had Jean stand near the tree and, once again  I did the 10 second dash to be in the photo with her and the tree. I spread my arms to show the girth of the tree and held still, waiting the 20 seconds for the camera to take the photo. There you go. We got the shot for the Georgia Mountain Laurel and the one posted here.

Fortunately, I carry a flashlight in my camera bag and all the way back I called to Jean, log here, branch there, sticks on the trail, look out for the rock. It was dark but, it was fun and we got the shot!