Monday, November 7, 2016

The Great Smoky Mountains Photography Summit II

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Cabin and Split Rail Fence on an Autumn morning (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 44.1mm plus polarizing filer; 0.6 sec. @ f/8; ISO 200 (tripod)
A couple of weeks ago, I spent 6 wonderful days in and around Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina.  I attended the second annual of the Great Smoky Mountains Photo Summit (GSMPS), held at the Tremont Lodge and Resort in Townsend, Tennessee.  The photos I've posted with this blog were made during my visit. More will be forthcoming in the following days.

 I can highly recommend attending this event next year if you want to have the opportunity to photograph some beautiful nature and wildlife scenery, listen to, chat with and share meals with some of the best professional outdoor photographers as well as meet other attendees with whom you can share the experience and from who you can also learn and improve your photography.

 Here is the website if you want more information about this year's event.
Cascadeing creek, GSMNP (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 29.2mm plus polarizing filer; 5.3 sec. @ f/11; ISO 400 (tripod)
The event was the dream of Wilson Reynolds, the owner of the Tremont Lodge.  Two years ago, he convinced nationally known photographer, teacher, workshop leader, friend and fine human being Bill Fortney to take on this challenge and create this conference, workshop and tour.  According to Bill, at first he resisted, but being the kind of person who always helps others, agreed to use his expertise (he created the original Great American Photography Weekend workshops back in the 1990s) and guide the process to create one heck of an event.  The first one was last October.  The second this year.

 The GSMPS is more than a workshop.  It is a photographic conference featuring some of the best outdoor, wildlife, nature photographers and naturalists in the U.S.  It is a photo tour with local and national photographer/guides taking small groups out to photograph each day and night—for astro-photography.  It is an event where you can share a meal with these photographers/leaders, pick their brains, laugh and joke around and informally learn as well as formally learn.  There are vendors (such as Fuji, Sigma, Drury's) so you can get your hands on and use some gear.  There really is something for all levels of photographers.

 The GSMPS is limited to 200 participants led by 15 professional photographers and is much less expensive than most workshops I thought about attending in the past.  It is a bargain.
Old Dodge Truck (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 17mm plus polarizing filer; 1/15th sec. @ f/8; ISO 640 (handheld, no image stabilization)
The photographer/leaders this year were:

 Bill Fortney, Jack Graham, Matt Kloskowski, R.C. Concepcion, Len Rue, Jr. Deborah Sandidge, Bill Lea, Dan Baily, Jim Begley, Ken Jenkins, Ellen Anon, Kevin Adams, Charles Needle, Brett Wells and Snake Barrett, in not particular order.  If you search the Internet for the websites of these photographers you will see exactly what I mean as to their talent, ability as both photographers and teachers.

 Sadly, Wilson Reynolds died earlier this year but he lived to see his dream fulfilled, largely thanks to Bill Fortney and April Love, the woman behind the scenes who took care of all the details and made it successful.  I'm sure there were others as well who put forth an incredible effort to make something like this happen.  I want to personally thank Bill, April and the others and I hope the conference goes on for many years to come.
Sparks Lane in Cades Cove on a foggy Autumn morning, GSMNP (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @16mm; 1/15th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200 (tripod)
If you want a week of wonderful photographic experiences and walk away with some excellent photographs, I recommend you sign up early next year as the conference sells out very quickly.

 Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

 Dennis A. Mook 

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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 7, 2016 at 3:13 PM

    Hi Dennis, is still crazy busy in the Smokies in October? I was there about 10 years ago and it was nearly impossible to drive in Gatlinburg. One weekday I was in Cades Cover, and it took nearly an hour to drive 5 miles.
    Off-topic, the more I see of the images from the X-T2, the more I like it. I know you have the pro series of lenses, but did you ever have the chance to shoot with lenses like the 18-55? I am curious how that combo might compare to an EM1 with the 12-40.
    Thanks, Jim

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    1. The Wandering LensmanNovember 8, 2016 at 8:23 AM

      Thanks for you comment and question, Jim. Still crazy! We would arrive each morning well before dawn and, still, there would be 20 cars ahead of us waiting to enter Cades Cove! Once the gates opened, it was a steady line of 15 mph traffic. Hundreds of automobiles. Several times, I saw the passenger standing with her (all were female) head, shoulders and arms up through the sun roof with a camera in hand taking snapshots, the car never stopping. Some hung out of the side windows. I even saw one guy just holding his arm outside the car as he was driving, pointing his camera at some unknown subject and ripping off some photos, with no regard to where he was pointing it or what he was actually photographing. As I said, crazy!

      Two of the first three lenses I purchased are the 18-55 and 55-200. Nothing at all wrong with them. They are a cut above what one would consider "kit" lenses. If you go back through my blog posts over the past three years, you will see many images posted that were made with those lenses. I still use the 18-55 as a walk-around lens because it has good image stabilization. When traveling and space is limited, I take the 18-55, 55-200 and 14. As I said, nothing at all wrong with the image quality of those lenses.

      As far as the 18-55 compared with the Olympus 12-40, I would say, if you looked at the images at 100%, the 12-40 would beat it on the edges and corners wide open. If you stopped down a stop of two and looked at your images on a large monitor, I don't think you would see much of a difference, if any at all. I would put the 12-40 in the same class as the Fuji 16-55 f/2.8. Just a little bit better than the 18-55, but probably more theoretically than practically.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 8, 2016 at 2:12 PM

    Thanks for the reply Dennis. I recall seeing a park ranger pull someone over for having a passenger standing through the sunroof while driving.

    The reason I asked the question regarding the lens is that there are times when I think a scene offers challenging light or details that my EM1 cannot resolve. I like what the mirrorless cameras offer, so I don't think I want a DSLR again, and I can't afford a FF Sony offering. The X-T2 seems to be a very nice compromise, but I'm trying to gather as much info as possible before selling off the Olympus gear.
    Jim

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    1. The Wandering LensmanNovember 8, 2016 at 3:09 PM

      Jim, i will be more than happy to answer any question about the Fuji system you may have either by email or telephone. You can email me privately and, if I can be of help, it will be my pleasure. My email address is on my website, www.dennismook.com

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