They are called the Great Smoky Mountains because on cool moist evenings fog develops in the low lands that looks like smoke in the morning. It is a beautiful thing to behold. The fog can change from minute to minute creating quite a show.
Morning Fog in the Smokey Mountains 1 by Richard Lewis 2014
Morning Fog at Dawn in the Smokey Mountains by Richard Lewis 2014
If you are in the low land valleys, you get to be part of the fog developing. In the photograph below the mountains are barely visible through the forming “smoke”.
Smokey Mountain Evening by Richard Lewis 2014
Even on clear days haze in the valleys gives the impression of smoke.
Details of a Morning by Richard Lewis 2014
Blue Hour in the Smokey Mountains by Richard Lewis 2014
Of all the things in the Smokies that I fell in love with, this was by far the most beautiful.
How I did It – Be in the moment. When you are in such overwhelming beauty it is great to let yourself go into the moments you are experiencing. When that happens, the way to make photographs is to know your equipment, and the rules of exposure, well enough to put the technical part of photography on auto pilot and just create. It is important to be able to get lost in the beauty and not in the technical details of exposing an image.
Enjoy
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Beautiful series….
Thank you for the compliment.
Beautiful shots of the Smoky Mountains. Is there any truth to the legend that the smoke comes from fires burned by the first European settlers?
I have not heard of the legend. It sounds better than the actual scientific explanation. One evening we were out and as the sun set and the temperatures dropped you could see the fog rising from the ground. It was a fascinating thing to see.
Stunning images! I love your photography.
Thank you Laura. I have to say the feeling is mutual.
Aw thank you Rich 🙂
I like “Details of a Morning” the best, I think because of the converging lines and also the soft brown tones of the trees.
Thanks for sharing the great insight into creation of your landscape.photography..
Thanks Lou, I’m glad you like that one. We were photographing the typical Smoky Mountain sunrise with the repeating ridges. I wanted something different so I waited until the sun above the horizon and shot this while everyone was packing up their gear.
Absolutely stunning images 🙂 …just loved them
Thank you very much for the compliment.
Your opening b/w is just perfect… like your take on the place.
Thanks Mike.
Morning Fog at Dawn is great.
Great images Rich. I don’t think I can pick a favorite … I love them all. It looks like you were blessed with both fog and great clouds! Love the layered affect of the mountains.
Thanks Denise. It is hard to pick a favorite and I’m only showing 2 images from that amazing morning. Where we were shooting there were a couple of local photographers who remarked that this was some of the best morning fog they have ever seen. Again we were fortunate to be there at the right time.