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Tag: Photography
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Image for the Asking: Curtain Call
Story and image by Don McGowan
I have been a professional nature and travel photographer for nearly 27 years, and the first word that comes readily to mind to describe my experience of those years is “gratitude.” The worst day I’ve ever had doing photography was infinitely better than the best day I ever had in an office&
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Image for the Asking: Little is a Relative Term
“Little” can be a relative term. For example, at an elevation of approximately 5100 feet, in the lofty vicinity of Collins Gap, small streams form on the north slope of Clingmans Dome, the highest point in all of Tennessee.
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Share Your Old Smokies Photos for National Park Week: Wayback Wednesday
By Valerie Polk
Growing up in Townsend with parents who loved the outdoors, I have lots of childhood memories of picnicking and hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Of course, life was busy even then, and my parents were spending every moment they could building our future house. The chance to leave the work behind and escape away to
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Image for the Asking: Between the Campbells
Story and image by Don McGowan
One of the great joys of living in the Southern Appalachians and in close proximity to the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains is the opportunity for close observation as the starkness of winter with its leafless deciduous hardwoods, slowly at first and then in a full-out run, brings to these old hills another
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Image for the Asking: The Ace of Sycamores
Story and image by Don McGowan
In reflecting on the teaching of the photographic process as it relates to the composition of images, I have understood that what is involved distills itself into two primary aspects: elements and principles; and that within these primary groupings there are a number of sub-groupings, all of which are rightly
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Image for the Asking: Liquid Gold
Story and image by Don McGowan
Perhaps the reason I am so attracted to the music of a flute is that the notes of this instrument remind me of tumbling water. And one of the primary reasons I am so intensely drawn to these old mountains of the blue mists is because of my love of water. Who knows, maybe there actually is some kernel of
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Image for the Asking: Waking Up the Cove
Story and image by Don McGowan
The great open valleys of the Smokies—Cataloochee in North Carolina; Big Cove in Qualla Boundary; and Cosby, Tuckaleechee, and Cades Cove in Tennessee—are self-contained microcosms of the diverse human history of this wonderful land. Ongoing research and discovery is continuously adding to our
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Image for the Asking: Hark, What Light
Story and image by Don McGowan
According to most recent accounts there are 848 miles of maintained trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including 71 miles on the Appalachian Trail. These miles are scattered wonderfully across GSMNP from edge to edge and from high to low.
In the extreme northeastern corner of the park, just
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Image for the Asking: A River
Story and image by Don McGowan
There are nearly 2,900 miles of streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That’s roughly the distance between Asheville, North Carolina, and the Colorado National Monument, just south of Fruita, Colorado, and back again; and nearly 600 miles of that number are suitable for fishing. The watersheds
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Image for the Asking: Snail Eating Up the Forest
Story and image by Don McGowan
They are easily overlooked and often quite readily ignored. They often leave a slimy trail wherever they go, which doesn’t necessarily endear them to a lot of people. Yet they are an important part of the web of life in these old mountains, and if you are willing to be completely honest with yourself, they
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