As inspiration for this current series was building, one of the things I told myself was that I need to increase the size of my circle.  What I mean by that is this – I tend to mostly shoot on the Townsend end of the Smokies, frankly because it’s close and easy. Upon reflecting on this last summer, I realized one of the reasons I was feeling out of ideas was the fact that I’ve shot a LOT in Cades Cove and the surrounding area.  I simply needed to get out and explore more of the park!  So, while you’ll definitely see some familiar scenes in this series, as you have already, my hope is that I expose you to some parts of the park you’ve not seen before AND help you see the parts of the park you have been to in a new and different light.

With that in mind, this week’s Picture of the Week is one such image.  The scene here is Mingus Mill, which is over on the North Carolina side of the park, near Smokemont.  I’d been there a handful of times before, and even worked out that I could do a star trail shot from there, but just never did it because of the amount of time that would be required.  I also told myself it would be challenging, given all the trees that get mixed up in the sky.  Well, I finally got over all those things and just went and did it.  One aspect of this series that will be a little different than images I’ve produced in the past, is that while the scenes are at night and feature the sky as I like to portray it, the sky won’t always be super prominent.  In this image, for example, its obviously at night, and it was a stary night, but most people likely won’t recognize any of the constellations, and the nebula are all mixed up in the trees – and I’m good with that!  🙂  That’s what this particular scene dictated.

The few times that I’ve been to this mill, what has always captivated me was how long the water trough was coming to the mill.  The original creators literally diverted a part of the stream more than 100 yards, with a pretty ingenious setup that relied on a natural flood plain, which was bolstered to carry water whenever they opened the gate to it.  That is why I chose to highlight this part of the scene, more than the mill itself (in the background), simply because I love the ingenuity behind it.  For those that don’t know though, the mill is worth a visit as the milling apparatus is also pretty unique.  Rather than a spinning wheel, like you see at the mill in Cades Cove, this one used a plunge turbine style mechanism, which is really really neat to see.

So many interesting things in our park!

More next week!

–Dan Thompson