Roaring Fork – 2, by Suprada on Flickr.

Roaring Fork in Fall, Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee
A small waterfall adorned in fall colors in the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in the Smokies.

Must have guide book for the smokies: The Smoky Mountains Photographer’s Guide
This is a great book by Bill Campbell and Nye Simmons with excellent pictures and text.

About Roaring Fork Auto Tour trail from the Smoky Mountains National Park Website:
“The Roaring Fork area is a favorite side trip for many people who frequently visit the Smokies. It offers rushing mountain streams, glimpses of old-growth forest, and a number of well-preserved log cabins, grist mills, and other historic buildings. To access Roaring Fork, turn off the main parkway in Gatlinburg, TN., at traffic light #8 and follow Historic Nature Trail to the Cherokee Orchard entrance to the national park. ”

“Just beyond the Rainbow Falls trailhead you have the option of taking the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This narrow, but paved, road twists and turns for six miles beside rich forests, waterfalls, and mountain streams. Buses, trailers, and motor homes are not permitted on the motor nature trail. An inexpensive booklet available at the beginning of the motor nature trail details landmarks along the route. ”

“Roaring Fork” is the name of the stream which the road roughly parallels. It is one of the larger and faster flowing mountain streams in the park. Drive this road after a hard rain and the inspiration behind the name will be apparent. ”

This photograph was taken between Mile 3.4 and Mile 3.6 on the motor nature trail.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 1/4s at f8.0
Focal Length: 22mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLRs
Date: October 26, 2009

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Roaring Fork – 1, by Suprada on Flickr.

Roaring Fork in Fall, Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee
A small waterfall adorned in fall colors in the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in the Smokies.

Must have guide book for the smokies: The Smoky Mountains Photographer’s Guide
This is a great book by Bill Campbell and Nye Simmons with excellent pictures and text.

About Roaring Fork Auto Tour trail from the Smoky Mountains National Park Website:
“The Roaring Fork area is a favorite side trip for many people who frequently visit the Smokies. It offers rushing mountain streams, glimpses of old-growth forest, and a number of well-preserved log cabins, grist mills, and other historic buildings. To access Roaring Fork, turn off the main parkway in Gatlinburg, TN., at traffic light #8 and follow Historic Nature Trail to the Cherokee Orchard entrance to the national park. ”

“Just beyond the Rainbow Falls trailhead you have the option of taking the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This narrow, but paved, road twists and turns for six miles beside rich forests, waterfalls, and mountain streams. Buses, trailers, and motor homes are not permitted on the motor nature trail. An inexpensive booklet available at the beginning of the motor nature trail details landmarks along the route. ”

“Roaring Fork” is the name of the stream which the road roughly parallels. It is one of the larger and faster flowing mountain streams in the park. Drive this road after a hard rain and the inspiration behind the name will be apparent. ”

This photograph was taken between Mile 3.4 and Mile 3.6 on the motor nature trail.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 1/6s at f8.0
Focal Length: 10mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLRs
Date: October 26, 2009

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Dappled Forest, by Suprada on Flickr.

Fall colors, Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee
Sunset through clouds and the golden forest in Fall.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: 1/20s at f4.0
Focal Length: 40mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Date: October 25, 2009

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Green, by Suprada on Flickr.

Fall colors, Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee

Florescent green forest during fall.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: f4.5 at 1/20s
Focal Length: 17mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Date: October 25, 2009

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Golden Gate Bridge at Night – 1, by Suprada on Flickr.

Golden Gate Bridge at Night – 1, San Francisco, California.
“A night photograph is a collection of time and light.”

My first keeper with my new Canon 50D. The camera came on Tuesday evening and after playing with it for a bit, I was itching to take it out for some real outdoor shooting. The opportunity came when we had to go to San Francisco on Friday to attend an event. After the event, at 2.00AM, we made our way to a pull out past the Golden Gate Bridge. It had been drizzling a while back, but it was nice and clear with patches of fog rolling in and out while I was shooting this image. It is extremely magical photographing outside at night. I feel like an an outsider looking into a new world all ready to be discovered.

Currently reading / looking at Michael Kenna: A 20 Year Retrospective and getting super-inspired. Love how “quiet” his images are. I am now contemplating on “quiet night” images…is there such a thing?

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon EOS 50D 15.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
Exposure: 30s @ f8.0
Focal Length: 23mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Date: February 13, 2010
Location: 37.82883333,-122.48600000

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El Conte at Night, by Suprada on Flickr.

El Conte draped in Fall colors, at Night, Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee

I happened to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last October. Fortunately for me, right then, fall colors were at their peak. We drove in on a Friday to the tourist town of Gatlinburg. That night, I decided to head out and try night photography. I had recently taken a night photography workshop by Harold Davis and was very eager to try the techniques and methods out.

By the time we reached the Sugarlands visitor center, it was getting dark. The ranger there talked about Campbell Overlook, on the NewFoundland Gap Road being a good sunset spot. So I decided to head there for the night shoot. An excerpt from the “NewFoundland Gap Road Auto Tour” booklet: “From here you are looking toward Mt. El Conte, the third highest peak in the smokies, but Bull Head in the foreground keeps you from seeing all of El Conte”.

The Campbell Overlook is at Mile 4 from the Park entrance at Gatlinburg. It is 3.7miles from the Sugarlands Visitor Center. There are two large parking areas on the left providing views of Sugarland Valley and Mt. El Conte. Of the two, the second pullout is named for Carlos Campbell, who wrote Birth of a National Park: Great Smoky Mountains. The book tells the story of how “a citizen park movement in North Carolina and Tennessee made Great Smoky Mountains National Park possible”.

This is the thing about night photography: its a lonely affair, especially for someone who likes company – the long time on spot taking the many really long exposures in the inevitable cold. Luckily for me, I had people to give me company while I was shooting.

This photograph is a combination of many exposures taken over 1 hr at the same spot. The photographs were then processed and stacked using Adobe Photoshop Extended CS4.
For more about night photography, you can read Harold Davis’s excellent book titled Creative Night: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques. Y

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Exposure: Stacked Exposure
Focal Length: 17mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Date: October 24, 2009

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