Great Smoky Mountains Spring Photo Tour

May 7 - May 11, 2025

Full Tuition $1,600
Deposit: $500

If you have any questions regarding payment or workshop details, please email me at: mark@markdenneyphotography.com

Wildflowers & Waterfalls in the Great Smoky Mountains

Join myself and Tommy White for an incredible 5 day Photography Workshop exploring Springtime in the Great Smoky Mountains. Spring in the Smokies is a truly magical time. Rivers and waterfalls are running high from Spring rains and the forest is just exploding with new colors. Dogwood blooms are scattered throughout the forest which is like something out of a fairy tale. Bears and bear cubs are running around like it’s playtime feeding on new spring growth and grubs.

We’ll be covering everything from A-Z in this Workshop. From water speed and how to use time to your advantage, to exposure and focus blending. When to use them and why. We will use everything from your widest lens to beautiful distortion and perspective and your longest lens to find wildlife in hidden places.

The air will be filled with the smell of new growth and the forest will be coming alive before your eyes. New ferns, budding flowers, and roaring rivers will be all around as we explore the reaches of this magical place.

Get ready for an amazing photography adventure!

Overview

Come explore the far reaches of the Great Smoky Mountains! I’ve been coming to the Smokies several times a year for as long as I can remember and have discovered and explored some of the most magical places I have ever seen. The Smokies are very unique. They’re are plant and animal life there that is no where else here in the East. And, did I mention that things grow BIG over there! Well they do, everything from Virgin timber to ferns that grown up taller than my waist! We’re to see it all on this trip. We’ll be making our way to some of our favorites and we have a few new spots to explore. We promise to send you home starry eyed and satisfied!

We will also share how to “see the light” and bring new life to a scene that might look rather ordinary during the harsh light hours. We will also be touching on more advanced techniques used in Landscape photography, like focus stacked, image blending and Luminance masking. These are techniques that once learned, you can use them effectively on all of your landscape images going forward.

Got your attention yet?…. Check this out, we’ll also dive into using longer exposures and shutter speeds to control water movement and even the sky! Using the element of time can transport your images to a place far beyond what you ever dreamed.

Reserve My Spot

What’s Included

Photography instruction with Landscape Photographers Tommy White and Mark Denney.

5 Full days of Photography and field Instruction in the Great Smoky Mountains
Guidance through the most visited National Park in America
Snacks and Drinks are provided during the Workshop
One on One field guidance in composition, color, balance, and harmony
Learn how to capture and process in Black and White.
Visual interpretation of the landscape. How to see and use the light.
Fully park permitted and Insured.

Topics We’'ll Cover

Learn how to create powerful compositions and bring your artistic vision to life

Visualizing your composition, capturing and guiding the viewer
How to identify and control: Balance and visual flow
The use of filters to enhance and control light. How to “see” light
Histograms, how to read them and why they play an important role
Focus Stacking for extreme front and back focus
How to use lens compression
How to blend focal lengths
How to create beautiful Long Exposures to unveil a hidden visual world
Photographing the night sky: Stars, Milky Way, Star Trails and Time Lapse Photography
Light Painting in the Twilight and night Landscape
How to research potential shoot locations
How to read the weather
Image Critique
Post Processing and Digital Workflow in Lightroom and Photoshop

What’s Not Included

Food. Plan to bring your favorite snacks and water. We will have some available.

Lodging
Parking Fees
Alcoholic beverages
Travel Insurance (optional but recommended)
Personal Items
Transportation. Participants should plan to provide their own transportation. Carpooling will be available at your own discretion.

Hotel Booking: Contact Bearskin Lodge: 865-430-4330 before February 28, 2025 and mention “Mountains to Sea Workshops” for our block discount.

Join us on this once a year trip with all the luxuries & experience the seasonal bliss of the Smokies!

We are fully Permitted in the Park and promote “Leave No Trace”

Important: Your safety is always our highest priority. Please make sure you are able to 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 prior to 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.