Spring in the Smokies Photography Workshop

A 3 day Photography Workshop exploring the Great Smoky Mountains during peak bloom. Spring in the Smokies is a truly magical time with rivers and waterfalls running high from Winter thaw and Spring rains. The forest is just exploding with new fauna and Dogwood blooms are scattered along riversides and mossy covered rocks, like something out of a fairy tale.

We’ll be covering everything from a-z in this Workshop. Not just the hidden places, but we love to explore the endless possibilities that the Smokies has for the landscape photographer. We’ll be hitting mossy rivers, majestic waterfalls, golden meadows and huge sweeping vistas. The air will be filled with smell of new growth and the forest will be coming alive before your very eyes. New ferns, budding wildflowers and roaring rivers will be all around as we explore the reaches of this magical place.

This trip is open to aspiring and advance photographers. There is something for everyone in the Smokies. It’s an easy place to find yourself, immersed in the incredible beauty of Spring. We believe you’ll find this trip just as aw-inspiring as we do and would love to have you join us for this one! Get ready to learn all types of photography on this one. We will be in front of huge sweeping vistas, mountains streams and Waterfalls, both enormous and very intimate. All perfect places to work on your framing and shutter speed. We will also take a day trip over to Cades Cove. The Spring 2023 Workshop saw 23 bears and tons of other wildlife. We plan to hit up to 6 waterfalls this trip. And don’t worry, we’ve kept the hikes nice and short! We will also be exploring places like Tremont, Little River and several other of the lesser known mountain streams. This class will also have the benefit of catching some of the earliest blooms in the forest. The forest Dogwoods will be in full bloom. A perfect time to play with macro and even mid range lenses. We’ll learn how to frame them and prep them for a beautiful edit in Lightroom and Photoshop.

We will also share with you the many diverse Applications and software we use to plan out our photoshoots. The technology is at your fingertips, let’s explore it together! These will come in handy for all the incredible locations you will visit, but also our Sunrise and Sunset photoshoots. On two mornings and two evening of our trip together, we’ll be standing in front of gorgeous mountain layers in golden light. Prepare to be wowed as we take it all in capturing each amazing moment behind the camera.

If you are looking for fun photography trip that seems more like a vacation and you enjoy filling your cards with a variety of amazing places dressed in their Spring finest. This Workshop is for you!

There’s always plenty of room to shoot freely and you’ll get all the personalized attention from us that you want from two seasoned photographers. We are always close by to help out and point out alternate compositions and angles. But we also want to give you the freedom to shoot and experience on your own. There will also be a tremendous opportunity to learn in the classroom where we’ll share all of our secrets including other shoot locations that we may not have time to visit. Class time will include things like image selection, Lightroom pre edit, Photoshop and Luminosity masking. Our favorite dodge and burn techniques and how to build mood into your image.

Booking Info: Bearskin Lodge – 865-430-4330 before March 31, 2024 and mention “Mountains to Sea Workshops” for our block discount.

*We are fully Permitted in the Smokies and advocates of “Leave No Trace”

Important:  Your safety is always our highest priority.  Please make sure you can hike at least one mountain mile.  The terrain here is uneven and can be steep to our shoot locations.  An equipment list will be provided before the Workshop. *If you have a pre-existing medical condition, we will need to know about this in advance to assess your ability for this trip.

Day 1

We meet and greet in the afternoon at our first location to get to know each other before heading out to our sunset shoot. This will be a casual start to get our feet wet. Not literally. That comes tomorrow

Day 2

We'll wake early and head out to an overlook to get a 360-degree view of the Smokies. Afterwards we will hit a waterfall and hike in and out for about 1 mile.

Day 3

Another full day is on tap exploring the Smokies, Rivers, Valleys and Waterfalls. After a break, we head out to our sunset shoot in a secret spot.

Day 4

Our last day of fun together starts early on location in our favorite spot. Following a late breakfast, we will wrap in time to get out of the hotel by checkout.