Category: Smoky Mountain National Park

Nature & Landscape Photography Workshops Announced!

Sunrise, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Today we announced the Quiet Light Nature Photography Workshops in the Quiet Light eNewsletter! Here’s the announcement. (To see the entire eNewsletter go to www.quietlightpublishing.com/newsletters/Aug2008.html)

Quiet Light Publishing and Richard Mack Photography have teamed up to form the Quiet Light Workshops. These are nature photography workshops for photographers of all levels. Quiet Light Photography Workshops offer people interested in nature and landscape photography the ability to hone their skills in the digital world of photography today. Each workshop will enable you to expand your skills with your camera, teaching or enhancing your knowledge of composition, color balances, and color calibration to get consistent work results, as well as downloading your images into the computer and optimizing them in Photoshop. Not only do we focus on improving the images you create, but we aim to engage your imagination and expand your appreciation of the natural world. Our workshops are designed to take you to some of the best landscapes the lens can see!

Join professional photographer Richard Mack as he leads you through some of his favorite places in nature – teaching and sharing with you many of the important techniques that have made him a leading nature photographer. Richard has shot on assignments in all 50 states and many countries. His portfolio includes works in both color and black & white from many National Parks, National Forests, and wilderness areas. His work has been exhibited widely in galleries throughout the United States. He has won numerous awards including twice being honored by the International Photography Awards for his nature images. His book The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes has won over a dozen major photography, book and design awards.

 

These are hands-on, in the field workshops with Richard. You will be in surroundings that get your creative juices flowing and will serve as a wonderful photographic classroom. At the end of the day, images will be reviewed and discussed as a group. Techniques will be shared and Richard will work with each of you to improve upon what you’ve shot. The take-away from this workshop will be a better knowledge of how to make your equipment work to the best of its ability, a new understanding of composition, lighting, filters, etc. and a plethora of tips to make your images get the “wow” response.

Not only do you receive the expertise of Richard, but you will find him fun, easy to work with and truly passionate about photography. His goal is to give every participant the most rewarding photographic and learning experience possible. So, why not come along and set your own goal – take home some stunning photographs!

Workshop Schedule

Starved Rock State Park, Illinois
September 28-29, 2008
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tennessee & North Carolina
October 19-23, 2008
Zion National Park, Utah
January 25-30, 2009
Bryce National Park, Utah
February 1-5, 2009
Saguaro National Park, Arizona
February 23-27, 2009
Yosemite National Park, California
March 22-27, 2009

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Spring Wildflowers
April 19-23, 2009

More Coming Soon – including Alaska trips!

Email us to be put on the list to receive updates!

info@quietlightworkshops.com

For more information use the link to go to the Workshops home page!

www.quietlightworkshops.com

Hope to see you at one of our Workshops!


Winter in the Smoky Mountains

Pines and Snow 

 

Late last week a spring snow storm dropped 12” – 17” on Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is a rare event, especially in the last few years. As part of my next book project I have been sorting through 30 years of photographs from the park and have found myself woefully lacking winter shots. So with the snow totals looking good, but the temperatures expected to rise back into the 50’s and 60’s, I called my friend who happens to have access to a plane and we took off 24 hours later, on Saturday morning to head down to the snow. This seemed a bit crazy to most around here, since Chicago has been inundated with snow this winter, but it had to be done for the book.

We took off about 6:15am on Saturday morning and flew down the lakefront past Chicago. In the morning light the city looked great from the air and I snapped a few shots as we went by. The remainder of the flight was a beautiful blue sky smooth ride at 9500’. We arrived at the Gatlinburg airport at 10 or so and after picking up the rental car and a bit to eat we were in the park by 11:30.

On the drive up the mountains I started to get concerned because I had yet to see any snow! Were had it all gone? The weather reports had said there was even 5” on the ground in Gatlinburg, but it was not here now! I could not even see it on the edges of the cliffs. The farther up we went the more concerned I was that the trip had been for nothing! But then we reached the altitude where the base of the snow started. At the first creek with snow we pulled over and I began to shoot. It was almost like being in overdrive as I pointed the lens everywhere in a mad rush to get images. Predictably, these first shots were not very thoughtful. But after getting this first stop out of the way I began to settle down and really start to see images. As the snow depth increased, so did my concentration. It takes time and an openness to what is presented in front of you to find the images which will tell a story, make people want to linger over them. You can not be a bull in a china shop and just snap away if you want them to be interesting. You must slow down and see.

I worked streams with their snow covered rocks, hillsides with the pines covered with snow, small detail scenes of snow clinging to rocks, and icicles hanging from the cliffs. The biggest problem was it was a blue sky day – making it very sunny with the light casting shadows and making the images full of contrast. Not the best, but it worked and as the sun began to settle into the west the ridges blocked the light and gave me the perfect mix of soft light.

 

Rocks, Stream and Snow

 

Because we had only one day, and maybe a few hours in the morning, we could not spend any time hiking into some of my favorite places, but stayed near the main road. We saw a lot of folks building snowmen, even putting them around the antennas on their cars so they drove with small snowmen on their windshields. By evening I went to a few of the overlooks which give you those sweeping look up the valleys. Winter is the best time for those long views of the mountains as the clear air enables you to see much further than in the summer. By now there was also a steady stream of overcast clouds moving in, making a sunset either one of those things that will not happen, or will be stunning. I shot at one overlook and then just before sunset went to the most famous overlook for sunset in the park, Morton Overlook. As I pulled in no one else was there. Guess they all figured nothing would happen this evening. I knew enough to hang out and wait, with the camera setup. This brought a few people to pull off the road, some getting out and looking and then going on, some staying. And then, right on queue and as I thought it just might, the sun went below the bottoms of the clouds and lit up the undersides of the clouds in a spectacular sunset. Now cars were pulling off the road in great numbers! I kept shooting while people talked to me. The show would not last more than a few minutes and I had work to do. Within five minutes the sun was gone and the clouds returned to a dark gray. The day was over. It was time to think about the morning shots over dinner.

 

Sunset, Morton Overlook

 

Unfortunately, the weather back in Chicago looked like it would deteriorate early in the day Sunday, instead of staying nice until Monday. After much consternation, we agreed we needed to leave at dawn to get in before the weather in Chicago made it impossible for us to get back in the next three days. It would have been nice to have more time, but in the roughly 9 hours on the ground I was able to get enough I hope to fill out the book with the winter shots I so needed.

 

To see the entire selection of the trip use this link to see my quick gallery of images: www.mackphoto.com/blog/SmokiesWinter/

We’ll soon have a selection of these images for sale online in the Quiet Light Publishing Gallery, http://www.quietlightpublishing.com/shop/Gallery.htm were we already have images from this upcoming book and from the Lewis & Clark Trail American landscapes book.