You have a lot on the list and I would agree that all are great ideas, but your time will be short and especially since you will be there when the color change is drawing a lot of folks to the mountains. Certainly a great time to get there, but the crowds getting in/out can be really bad. The idea mentioned about going through Wears Valley and thru Townsend when going to Cades Cove is a good one. If you go to Clingman's Dome, recently renamed to Kuwahi which is related to the original Cherokee name for the peak, it is the highest point in the GSMNP and you will have to go through Gatlinburg and NOT through Wears Valley/Townsend to get there.
Once you get through Gatlinburg, you will immediately be entering the park and will first come the Sugarlands Visitor's Center where you can learn more about the park as well as how far away things are, time to get there, advisories, good hikes, sites, etc. The rangers are always great advisors for whatever your reason to be there. For photography, there are endless places along the streams that are always along the highway as well as many waterfalls.
If you go over the top of the Smokies and into NC you will be on the side where most of the elk hangout. I say most because they are starting to get on the East side of the park as well. There are numerous short hikes off of any of the roads, referred to "quiet walkways" that are very short, very accessible and usually have some nice feature to see as well, or just a place to get away from all the other sounds.
I'm sure you will both have a great time. I've never been in the park and regretted going. I've sometimes regretted the drive out or through areas to get there though. Pigeon Forge is generally a high volume tourist location with Dollywood and the like in that area.
Be sure to post some of your pics when you get the chance.
Indiana wrote:
A company called Breakthrough Photography has magnetic holders for ND filters and others. They were developing a polarizer system a few years ago, but I never followed up. There system is expensive but very professionally made and support is excellent. Might try them direct. Breakthrough Photography. com
Thanks, I'll look at them as well.
Hanson wrote:
This kind of magnetic system becomes very popular in recent years (albeit can be expensive like Lee). I just came back from a photo tour and almost every body had one except me. But I also discovered that the filter plates are prone to slip and fall when you unintentionally contact them or your camera bump into something that cause a slight jerk. I witnessed that happened several times during the tour. So that makes me think that, if I buy one, I would consider the card type slot system instead of magnetic (they are fast but not secure).
This kind of magnetic system becomes very popular ... (
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Interesting that they would slip considering the reviews for several of the brands say the strength of the hold is very secure.
uhaas2009 wrote:
I use kase filter k9 but they got a newer system. The magnetic filter made my life easier, love it
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1677007-REG/kase_1111090002_armour_entry_level_kit_cpl_nd64_s_gnd0_9_adapter.html/?ap=y&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3f_z8OLG-AIVEIvICh3HAAIrEAQYBCABEgK_H_D_BwE&lsft=BI%3A6879&smp=y
Yes, I've been looking at Kase as well. I would really like to use the polarizer I have and wish one of these systems would allow it instead of buying a second one.
dbrugger25 wrote:
There are advantages to systems like the Lee 100 system. If you have multiple size lens mounts it works on all of them, with adapters. I bought the system so that I wouldn't need to buy multiple sets of filters in different sizes. In addition, you can stack filters to achieve combined effects. There are other brands as well. I like the fact that onepolarizing filter can be used on all my lenses. The up-front investment is high but I have saved money in the long-run. https://leefilters.com/
But you do have to use the Lee filters, correct?
John N wrote:
To avoid (hopefully) cross threading of your regular polariser, balnce the filter on top of the lens and turn backwards (as if unscrewing). When the thread clicks or jumps reverse the action and screw in. This method has never let me down.
Yes, that's how I do it as well. The main problem is the time it takes to carefully put them on and take them off and the fact that the threads are sometimes very tight which could mean not being able to remove the filter onsite.
Yes, I did see those and wondered why they were discontinued.
I have a good polarizer (B&W) that I would like to continue using, but always hated the effort and time needed to screw and unscrew the tiny threads. They also like to cross thread or get very tight to the point that you have to spend extra time just to put it away. I would also like to add a variable ND filter to the mix if I can find a good one and would like to use a system that is easy to assemble like for the polarizer.
Now there are several companies that sell a system using magnetic rings which make assembly/disassembly instantaneous, but most of them require you to use their filters and won't work with the ones you already have.
What are your thoughts? Have you found a solution to this problem? Do you use the filters of your choice or use only ones that come in a system described above?
I think I would get much closer to the flowers, making them more of the focal point since that is what you are capturing. If you are wanting to capture the flowers and the fact that they are at a bog, then make the flowers maybe on the lower left third of the frame. The bog with a little water showing would be on the right and the packing house straight above it, but flowers which are in focus would be the main attention.
The exposure seems fine, nothing blown and if it is too dark, it can be brightened if needed.
niteman3d wrote:
Looks great... it's good to see the area has recovered well from the '16 wildfires.
Actually, Pigeon Forge wasn't in the fire zone. The end of the fire wasn't that far from Pigeon Forge though.
Hereford wrote:
Nice photo, I went out also last night. Weatherman said partly cloudy all night so I was hoping to get lucky. It was not to be. Full clouds started at 9:30, then lightning by 10:30, and then a 2" thunderstorm and rain until this morning. Now I have to wait 50 years for the next one again.
While solar eclipses are infrequent, lunar eclipses are fairly frequent. There is going to be another total lunar eclipse visible across the US on November 8th of this year. Here is a calendar that shows the next 24 lunar eclipses and where they will be seen.
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/list-lunar.html
Those are very nice. Could you elaborate on technique/equipment?
I always shoot in RAW for the reasons others have stated above, more adjustment latitude. I do go through EVERY picture, but don't necessarily do anything to most of them. When my images are brought in the LR, I have some standard processing that I've set up that I put them all through and adjust from there. I do typically trash or discard most of my shots, not so much because I didn't expose them right, but I often times am trying for a certain expression when shooting candid shots and may shoot many shots in the process. Later I'll pull the one that captures the expression I was after and discard the rest.
I recently shot a large event and took over 4100 pictures. It took quite a while to process them, but when I was done, I had about 1100 that I then posted as jpegs for the event participants to have/use.