Where to Shoot near Gatlinburgh, TN?

[MVines]

Hi All,

Going on a vacation next month and wondering if anyone could recommend places that offer good opportunities to photo wildlife, maybe a refuge or the like.

Thanks,
MV

[dano57]

Gatlinburg is on the north edge of the Great Smoky Mountains! You can spend a lifetime there taking pics. The best place for wildlife is in Cades Cove which is about a 30 minute drive from Gatlinburg. It is an 11 mike one way loop that is fantastic. Hiking trails, old churches, cabins and such. Deer (lots) and bear. On the east side of the park is the Cataloochee Valley which has a resident herd of elk.

Got to http://www.nps.gov/grsm/ and check it out.

[Woolburr]

Gatlinburg sits smack on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Within a matter of minutes you can be back in another era by visiting Cades Cove. As the other Dan mentioned, there is plenty of wildlife...deer, bear, turkey, hawks and others to be seen. The shores of nearby Lake Douglas provides opportunities for the bird shooter. Take a trip into the park itself and journey to Clingman's Dome...the highest point in TN. Again, lots of flora and fauna to be found.

There is also the Great Smokies Aquarium (http://www.ripleysaquariumofthesmokies.com/) if you like fish.

[rklepper]

When we were there we stayed at the Le Conte Lodge. Wow what a time. The walk to the lodge was like a wildlife park on foot. Highly recomended.

[MVines]

Great, I had heard of Cades Cove, now I am going to make it part of the trip!!!

MV

[Docsknotinn]

As you drive into the park there are dozens of great places to stop and shoot flowers or streams. If you go newfound gap there are some nice shots to be had as well. You could always go to Dollywood! LOL

[BillsBayou]

The first thing you need to do when you get there is go to one of the park ranger offices. The main office is near Townsend. There is another between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (I think it is at Wiley Oakley Drive, but I could be wrong). The offices sell hiking maps, driving maps, books on waterfalls, wildlife, and more more more. They also have information on Cades Cove, which is a blast to drive through. There is a park office in Cades Cove as well.

If you like waterfalls, you'll want to bring a tripod and some ND filters. I like long exposure waterfall pictures.

There is only one significant waterfall that you can see from the roads within GSMNP: Meigs Falls. The waterfall is at least 100 yards away from the road, and you're separated from it by a river. I've made the trek across the river to take the shot, but I was wearing chest waders and using a sturdy hiking stick. However the shots I take from close up are worth it. Most shots you see on the Internet are from the roadway, not close up.

Grotto Falls is another "worth it" waterfall. It's the only one you can walk behind. Just down stream from the falls is a smaller set of cascades. I never see anyone else down there, but the photos I take are very nice there. The trailhead is inside of the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

Abrams Falls is a very dramatic waterfall. It has a high volume and a steep drop. It's trailhead is inside of Cade's Cove.

Laurel Falls is very nice. Very nice. So nice and easy to get to (short hike), they've put in a large (for GSMNP standards) parking lot and paved the trail the entire way. Thus, it's crowded. If you take a photo of these falls, I recommend making the climb down to a spot below the falls.

Rainbow Falls is beautiful. It's a bit of a hike to get there, but it's very pretty the way the water has cut into the rock.

Do a search on the web for the waterfalls. You'll get an idea of what you can see.

There are also numerous photo opportunities on many of the non-waterfall areas:

Clingman's Dome has an awesome view. It's a short hike but fairly steep. At least the trail is paved.

Newfound Gap is the only way to go "straight" through the park. Strait is a relative term when you look at how kinked up the road is. It actually loops around itself at one point. We went to Cherokee, NC via the Newfound Gap road. It was dark when we went back. If you enjoy night driving through moonlit hairpin turns, I recommend this highly. We stopped to admire the moonlit view and I took a couple of night shots. I forgot my lens cap there. I didn't realize it until I was back in Gatlinburg. I got the thrill of doing the trip there and back in the dark of night. Very nice and exciting thing to do in the dark.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is another nice drive with spectacular views.

The Cataloochie Valley is home to a new elk herd they've reintroduced to the area. This is NOT a road to take at night. It's gravel, narrow, and filled with hairpin turns. The valley is very nice.

There are numerous settlements in GSMNP where they've preserved the original homes. My daughter went upstair in the Cataloochie Valley's Palmer House. Apparently there's bats living in the attic. It was a tough time getting her back out of the house.

Getting to Meigs Falls. Note the angle the photo was taken. Just getting down to the river involves a steep climb. I'm atop a boulder in the river. It's deeper than this at points.
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Meigs Falls:
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[BillsBayou]

Grotto Falls
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A small cascade downstream
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[BillsBayou]

Wildlife in Cade's cove.

This is a crop shot. You'll want something in the long department to capture bear shots. I used a 200mm lens. I now own a 2x extender.
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The deer you could practically walk up on. This shot is from my windshield. I had to wait for him to cross so I could move on.
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[BillsBayou]

A family cemetary in the Cataloochie Valley.
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Elk, same valley
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[BillsBayou]

Family portrait on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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[MVines]

Wow, thanks for the great info. I am very excited about going now. I will be taking the two lenses listed in my sig and hopefully a SuperWide... I really can't wait to really put the 100-400 through its paces.

Thanks Again,

[BillsBayou]

Ok, short primer on Neutral Density(ND) filters.

- Glass is grey
- Does not affect color balance
- Reduces the entire spectrum of light equally (in theory, of course ;) )
- Allows for longer exposures
- Allows for wider apertures (to affect depth of field)
- Rated as ND2, ND4, and ND8
- Rating number is how much light is now getting through (1/2, 1/4, 1/8 )
- Adjust your exposure by 1, 2, or 3 f-stops respectively.

Polarizer filters do have an ND effect; usually 1.3 f-stops, or just less than 1/2 the light than without.

To shoot a waterfall, you want to take exposures of 0.8 second and higher. I've seen the difference between 0.6 second and 0.8 second. It's much different than that what you'll see between 0.8 and 1.0. I like smooth waterfalls which look like someone pulled cotton across the landscape.

I have an ND8 filter that I use for waterfalls. I combine it with a polarizer in harsh sunlight. The benefits of the polarizer effect as well as the extra 1.3 f-stop reduction work well to allow me to work in less than ideal lighting. (namely, my family won't let me get to the waterfall before 11am :( )

Bring an f-stop chart to remind you where +2 or +3 f-stops will put you. Not that you want to change the f-stop for the shot, but it does help. You want to change the exposure time for the given aperture. Double the exposure time for each f-stop loss due to the filter you use, and you should be in the right area. TTL metering also helps. However, reciprocity can get screwy at longer exposures, so be sure to check the shots.

Yes, you need a good solid tripod for this.

Do a great deal of checking your photos after you make your shots. Watch your histogram. That waterfall can become overblown very quickly. You want a good balance between the water and the scene. My shot of Meigs Falls is an example of garbage (in my opinion). Too much of the water is blown out white (but what choice did my family give me? I'm there to have fun with them, not take art photos, ;) )

Was that brief enough? :D

[BillsBayou]

Melissa, I'm re-readin your initial post.

The funny thing about wildlife in Cade's Cove is that EVERYONE is looking for it too. When you're stuck on the narrow one lane roads and traffic is backed up, try to find out if you're waiting to see a deer or a bear. Bear are harder to get a shot at. Deer are a dime a dozen.

There are two road which cut across Cade's cove, Sparks and Hyatt. There is a stream which runs down the middle of the valley (well, duh, that's why it's a valley, Bill). Last year when we were there at the end of May, there was a mother and three cubs in a stand of trees not far from the stream along Hyatt Road. I was too far away to get shots with my 200mm lens. We did some shots with the camcorder and watched them for half-an-hour. The mother was escorting them down to the stream (which we could not see from our angle). Then the park rangers showed up to check out the family. Mom hurried the cubs into the tree. One cub stayed low enough to check out the Rangers. Man, kids are kids whether they're bear or human, aren't they?

Hyatt has usually been our best bet for seeing bear, although often too distant to see. Using the loop road is good, but the road is crowded.

Bear, deer, turkey, elk, plenty to see and photograph in the Smokys.

[BillsBayou]

I can't believe this. It's been sitting in my briefcase for more than a week. The May/June issue of "American Photo" magazine has on their cover "The 10 Place you Must Photograph". Number four: "Smoky Mountains: Selected by Brenda Tharp".

Each place is represented by a single photo. The photo for the Smoky Mountains is of Grotto Falls. It's an interesting shot. It was made from behind the falls. I'd guess the camera was just a little to the left of my smallest daughter in the shot I posted above. The water is more choppy than I'd like to see in a shot like this. I'm guessing the exposure was 0.4 to 0.6 seconds.

Some comments from the article (paraphrasing):
Great place to shoot because of it's accessibility.
Easy access makes taking unique shots difficult as everyone else has the same shots.
(then they misspell "Clingman's Dome" as "Klingman's Dome" :( )
Shooting in the Eastern US offers a greater variety than shooting in the West.
Look to shots that pay attention to the details rather than going for the broader views.

What a coincidence.

[Stefan A]

Here is one of my favorite shots from the smokey's. This is right on the main drag going east through the park.

http://santwarg.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p407166534-4.jpg

[MVines]

Wonderful Shot!!!

[BillsBayou]

Fantastic shot of the cascades. Is that on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail?

What's the EXIF on the shot? What filters did you use?

[Stefan A]

Thanks

Whichever road goes west to east through the center of the park - that's where it is. Is the exif not there? (I am at work and cannot check). I can check when I get home. That was back when I was using my S2IS, so I did not own any filters back then. I made it a point to stop there because it was in the shade and I knew I had a chance of getting a longish exposure. It was probably 1 second - ISO 100 - f/8 - on a tripod. F/8 on the S2IS was probably like f/22 or higher on an SLR.

Stefan

[BillsBayou]

Ok, there it is. I'm not used to doing EXIF examinations on posted pictures (not everyone can post with the EXIF intact). S2IS, f/8, 2 seconds. Very nice. Did that camera have a built-in ND filter? My G3 had one and that is how I got started on this. "G3 User Guide.... Hmmmm.... ND filter. What's that? Oh. Waterfalls." :)

[Stefan A]

No, there is no ND filter in the S2IS. It was just in a shaded spot. I should have shot it at 1 or 1.5 seconds because it's a bit over exposed. Glad you like it.

Stefan