Most meals included – (B,L,D) denotes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 1 (Travel Day) (D)
Arrive in Knoxville, TN for an orientation and welcome dinner with the group.

Day 2 (B,L,D)
Our Great Smoky Mountains In Autumn photography tour begins in earnest with a pre-dawn drive from Knoxville to the east side of the Park. Smoky Mountain is world-renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and its Southern Appalachian mountain culture, and our tour will sample from each of these outstanding features.

During our tour, we’ll photograph the best of what makes the Great Smoky Mountains America's most visited National Park. We’ll be surrounded by colorful and diverse old-growth forests, creeks, and waterfalls. Wildlife including Black bear, White-tailed deer, and fox. The largest and perhaps most anticipated animal in the park, tips the scales at nearly 700 pounds, is the elk. This evening we will work on compositions from one of the high vantages in the Park, returning to our accommodations in Gatlinburg for a fantastic dinner and rest.

Day 3 (B,L,D)
Rising early is nothing new on photography tours, and today will be no different for our small group. We’ll position ourselves for a classic Smokies sunrise, this time from the Great Smoky Mountain Divide. Newfound Gap is a 5,000 ft mountain pass near the center of the National Park, just on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. In fact, the state line crosses here. As does the hugely famous Appalachian Trail. It is from this location, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt formally dedicated the Park on September 2, 1940. Fantastic views of the endless rolling ridges of the Smokies abound on today’s agenda.

As we transfer lodges this evening, we’ll take time to photograph Clingman’s Dome, which is the highest peak in the Park at 6,643 feet. On clear days views expand over 100 miles. The Oconoluftee Valley, which is usually a fantastic place to find and photograph elk, will also be an exciting stop for us. Formerly the site of a Cherokee village and later an Appalachian community, the valley's bottomland is now the main entrance to the North Carolina side of the Park.

Day 4 (B,L,D)
Cades Cove is a must-visit spot when at Great Smoky Mountain National Park, so for our fourth day together we’ll make a visit. We’ll spend the morning photographing the changing leaves and gorgeous autumn colors of the historic Cades Cove area. This part of the Park is a broad, verdant valley surrounded by mountains, and offers perhaps the best opportunities for wildlife photography. Large numbers of white-tailed deer are frequently seen, and sightings of Black bear, coyote, groundhog, turkey, raccoon, skunk, and other animals are also possible.

In order to maximize our time in Cades Cove, we’ll have a picnic lunch while here. This allows for continued photography while we enjoy our wonderful surroundings. Another evening photoshoot from a carefully hand-picked location will preclude a short shuttle ride to our hotel, where a tasty southern dinner and a cozy night’s sleep will top off another rewarding day of Smoky Mountains exploration.

Day 5 (B,L,D)
Our photography session this morning will be along a beautiful creek, surrounded by colorful, mist-clad mountains where we’ll spend the morning photographing waterfalls. Your guide will help you with different techniques used to photograph moving water. Learn how to slow, or freeze water and why you’d choose one over the other.
All of the up-close aesthetics of the Park will be on display for us today, so make certain to have plenty of available memory on your cards.

Tonight’s dinner – an outdoor evening picnic dinner prepared by your guide – will be enjoyed in the stunning Cade’s Cove area after a refreshing shower and a bit of afternoon downtime at our hotel. We’ll spend time photographing the Cade’s Cove area during dinner.

Day 6 (B,L)
Our final day together will begin photographing from one of the most breathtaking vantage points in the park. The colors, layers, and overall beauty of the Smoky Mountains at dawn will be on full display.

We’ll settle in for a short, yet scenic, shuttle back to Knoxville, giving us time to contemplate the natural beauty, invigorating hiking, phenomenal biodiversity, and fascinating history we’ve had the privilege to explore for the past five days.