Excursion Outline

Perhaps one of our favorite locations on the east coast, we are enthralled with the enchanting compositions and light that can be found throughout the Great Smoky Mountains.

We’ll take advantage of the famous “smoke” rolling over the peaks and filling the valleys every morning. As many of you may know, the Smokies are saturated with streams, forest floors, and rushing waterfalls. Speaking of waterfalls, the national park is home to over 730 miles of mountain streams, which is also home to carpets of wildflowers and blooming Dogwoods, just waiting to be photographed. Also, not to be missed on our adventure are the locals including bear, elk and white tailed deer. We’ll spend our sunrises and sunsets photographing the beautiful mountain vistas.

Our days will be spent seeking adventures along the winding rivers and in the forest. Emphasis for this workshop will be on capturing long exposures, positioning yourself for the best compositions to create dramatic images, carefully selecting shutter speeds to best capture the dramatic lines of the rushing rivers, and endless opportunities for wildflower photography with macro lenses. You may also opt in to come a day early and have a day solely dedicated to macro flower photography and processing. Look for more details on that in your booking confirmation or contact us directly if you have any questions.

Itinerary

All locations and times visited will be determined by the conditions given. All elements are watched closely for the best photographic and learning experience. Please note that due to the timing of the June workshop, we are very close to the summer solstice. That being said, time for sleep during the night will be limited. We will be sure to takea few hours off each afternoon for optional recharging time, for both you and your batteries!

Bonus Session
We've listened to our guests and have implemented something that has been hugely beneficial in our time together. Each workshop group will be invited to a live, recorded, online critique and post processing session, a short time after the workshop. This makes way for more shooting in the field and the option to learn from the comfort of your home and the ability to refer to the recorded session for future reference.

Day One
Let’s get started on our adventure! We’ve all planned, packed and we’re ready to meet each other! We’ll all gather at the hotel for a meet and greet followed by dinner and our sunset location. We’ll keep it low key tonight while we begin our new friendships and cover photographic techniques.

Day Two
The sunrise waits for no one. We’ll be up and out of bed early to travel to our vista for sunrise. We’ll look forward to a busy day of exploring, photographing while taking time to stop for lunch. Directly following lunch, we’ll be back on our way into the forest for some of the most magical sites east of the Mississippi. The sun sets late this time of year, so we’ll stop for another bite of southern food before we head out for our sunset location and calling it a day. Before lunch, we can get together for an optional photo critique of today's sunrise session.

Day Three
Today’s focus is moving water and motion in photography. We’ll discuss tips and tricks for identifying and creating movement and depth in our images. Once again, we’ll be sure to break for lunch and dinner, but a majority of the day will be spent knee deep in water. Don’t forget your boots or hip waiters! After dinner, we’ll gather together for our second photo critique where we’ll discuss composition. Guests are encouraged to select 1 – 2 of their best raw images from the trip thus far to share with the group.

Day Four
Last day! We guarantee friendships will be forged and we’re all going to wake up dreading that our amazing adventure is coming to a close. We’ll wake up early for sunrise and venture out to capture more of the beauty surrounding us. We’ll photograph into the day and break for lunch, where we’ll say our goodbyes.