This fall there were a number of ‘right place, right time’ type moments, but perhaps none stand out in my memory like this particular moment.

I discovered this particular pull-off along Clingmans Dome Rd about a week or two prior to taking the image above, but kept returning here because I felt like the scene really had potential.  On this particular morning I was planning to stop by here just before sunrise, and had gone all the way to Clingmans Dome parking lot to shoot the early, pre-dawn light from there.  Well, as luck would have it the clouds were already sitting down on the parking lot, so I abandoned that idea and just went to this overlook.  The earlier shots were interesting, but as the sun was just popping up over the distant mountains, clouds starting curling up over me and reaching down into the scene in front of me.  This created an amazing display of light as it reflected around in the clouds.  For the scene above I could see the cloud slowly drifting toward the one ridge, so I waited, and then started snapping away as it drifted over.  What a treat!  The clouds then sat further down and created the scene below in the Alternative Perspective section.

While I was there taking pictures, some guys pulled up to the overlook and hoped out, took a few photos with their phones, and started to walk away.  For the first time ever, I called them over to me because I could tell that couldn’t see what I was seeing from their vantage point.  As soon as they saw what I was seeing, as if on que, they all said “woaaah” in unison.  It was quite hilarious.

As is often the case in the Smokies, a small crowd draws a bigger crowd, and before long, every passing car was trying to pull in the little spot where we were to get a glimpse of what we were taking pictures of (one -ahem- touron just parked in the street, blocking traffic temporarily).  As annoying as that can be, it was fun to be a part of such a beautiful moment.  I obviously can’t blame them for wanting a shot; it was gorgeous!!

More next week!

–Dan Thompson