Smoky Mountains National Park

Last week, I found these beautiful wild violets growing near a stream in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Spring is a fantastic time of year to visit--no crowds, but the weather was warm and sunny (although it can change fast, at those high elevations)

I was in the park to take a workshop on digital photography, and let me tell you: it's hard to make good pictures! At least, it is for me, because I'm just learning about F-stops and depth of field settings and so on.

This photo, for example, shows the sunrise over the mountains. But I could've done a much better job of composing the scene if I'd shown a little less of the mountains. Our instructors said to keep a dark area like that down to about 25% of the total image. But hey, that's how you learn--by trying and making mistakes. I like the beautiful play of light in the sky anyway.






Here's a dwarf crested iris, a wildflower just beginning to bloom in the Smokies. The wind picked up about the time we came across these flowers, which made it hard to focus up close without getting a blurry image.

I'll post a few more pictures soon.