. . dbhughes photo blog . .

gsmnp – wrap up

•May 10, 2009 • 1 Comment

Just wrapping up my trip photos with a few more photos and some panorama’s. The first photo of the room I stayed in, I thought it was very nice (La Quinta Suite). Then some sunsets… and the pano’s. It took me a few weeks to stitch them together and get them edited the way I wanted.. so here they are. File are large sized and may take some time to load.

Posted in Photography, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

gsmnp – day three

•April 23, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Today turned out to be a very long day. I decided that I would take Zane with me so I wouldn’t need to drop back by the hotel to let him out. I thought he might drive me crazy but he was great. He loved hanging his head out the back window and staring at the deer and other wildlife we came across. The other photographers, tourists, etc that we met along the way all wanted to pet him. His reaction to seeing a deer less than 10 feet from the car was priceless, it was worth the cost of my whole trip.

I started the day out at 5am. I decided I wanted to get to Cades Cove way before sunrise. I arrived about 5th in line and unfortunately two of the cars in front of me were photographers who were ready, with tripod in hand, to run out into the field and stake a spot infront of “the tree” in Cades Cove. I still managed to get some great shots of the tree with the fog across the field. I just wished they opened about 30-45 minutes earlier. I spent the day in the cove, had a picnic with Zane in the campground area, met some photographers who were there for the wildflower expo, and met a nice family there for the food expo. I spent the prior day in the field getting some up close shots of the deer, but with Zane in the car I needed to stick close, so I took more landscape shots with deer in them. I went into Gatlinburg and took an after lunch tour of Roaring Fork Road, a very nice place for those mossy rocks and water shots, however I was there too early to get any really good shots, most had blown highlights. I met up with one of the wildflower photographers, she and I took a few flower shots on Roaring Fork. I recommend this road for early morning or very late evening, after 5pm at least. I drove back through the cove around 4-5pm hoping to get some bear shots, but only saw one very far away. I recorded it with my camcorder, but it was too far for even my 500mm lens + the tc. I was so tired and Zane was getting whiny, so we went back to the hotel where I had a swim in the heated indoor pool and fell asleep shortly after talking to Jeff (who thinks my blog is “weird” lol).

[click to enlarge]

Posted in Photography, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

gsmnp – day two

•April 22, 2009 • Leave a Comment

My day began around 5 am when I got up to watch the sunrise in Cades Cove. My hotel is farther away than I anticipated so I missed the sunrise today, hopefully I’ll catch it tomorrow. I ran across a roadside goose with some attitude on my way to the cove. It didn’t want to get out of the road, and when I went to take its photo, it gave me major attitude… was a good comedic start to the day. Cades Cove is home to a plethora of deer, too bad I didn’t see any bucks. I picked a quiet little spot between a field and a grove of small trees to set up my tripod, it turned out to be great for deer photography. I saw a fox, several squirrels and a few wild turkeys (which wasn’t so impressive since I have turkeys in my yard a few times a week). My next trip to this area I will definitely bring my backup camera. I could have got a shot of the fox if I didn’t have my camera on a tripod. Note for the future, D300 with long lens for the tripod, D50 with wide angle zoom to carry. I ran across a few birds too, I am unsure of the species of the black and white bird, but I know that little red headed devil is a woodpecker. I followed him from tree to tree, he was quick but I managed to get a few shots of him. He seemed to be giving me some attitude too, maybe it was just not the day for birding lol. I didn’t see any bucks or bears. I was in the cove from 7:30am till noon, the ranger said the bears come out more in the late afternoon after the day has warmed up and the bucks are just hit and miss. I hope I get some shots of them before I leave. After leaving the cove I took a little known road where the Tremont Institute is (thanks for the hint Kenny!) and I am so glad I did. It wasn’t the best for photography with the sun so high in the sky, but the sounds and smells were wonderful!! The creek ran parallel to the road and there are huge water dropoffs in the rocks which makes for a lovely sound. Also, the wildflowers were everywhere and the smell in the air screamed SPRING! I hated to leave all the beauty but I knew Zane was back at the hotel room needing to use the restroom and Manchester United plays a Premier League game at 3pm (oh yes, I am that obsessed), so I started back. While traveling through the little town called Townsend I saw a beautiful little church with the front door standing open and I had an epiphany, “Why are most non-Catholic churches always closed?”. My friend is catholic and she goes to church all the time, just drops in when she needs to. I think that would be nice, it would feel welcoming. I saw the door open and knew I wanted to blog about it, so I turned around and went back to take a photo of the cute little church. Things never ever happen like I plan them. In the time it took me to turn around, the church door was closed. Kinda sums up my life lol Enjoy the pics. Hope to make it back to get some bear shots after the Man Utd match.

p.s. if my photos look too sharp or weird, my laptop screen is NOT the best place to do quick edits to post online.. sorry.

[click to enlarge]

Posted in Photography, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

gsmnp – day one

•April 21, 2009 • 2 Comments

After a sleepless night (even with Ambien), I decided at 3am to finish packing my stuff and head out early. I decided to take a tour of Cataloochee before heading to the hotel. I didn’t know how Zane would handle the curvy roads, he whined a bit, but once he fell asleep he snored for hours. Around Maggie Valley I exited off I-40 and headed through Cove Creek. The area would be really beautiful if not for all the messy houses, abandoned cars, tractor tire flower-beds, and various other uglies. A 10′-15′ wide creek runs beside the road for several miles. I was sick when I saw trash, soda cans, and even a lawn chair in the creek. The road is really curvy and it turns to gravel for about 10 miles, but it eventually leads you to Cataloochee Valley. Going up the mountain, the clouds seem to sit on the road, making it look as if you were driving through mist. Once I was in the valley, within a minute I saw a cute little chipmunk (I think that’s what it is, I wasn’t quick enough to get a good photo). Henry Caldwell settled the land in 1814 and by 1900 there were over 700 people living in Cataloochee Valley. The following are photos of the Palmer Chapel, The Caldwell House, and others…

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