As I wrote in a post a couple of weeks ago, I love the Smoky Mountains and, by extension, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. So, a couple of days ago, when I came across this picture in my photo library, I was surprised to discover it was taken on my last visit to the park. . .nearly 10 years ago.
When it comes to the Smokies, and to Cades Cove in particular, the trick to getting pictures without people milling around in them is to arrive as early as possible. A little bit of luck is a huge help as well. Fortunately, for this picture, I did the first and got the second.
My wife and I arrived at the cove just after sunrise and began making our way along the Cades Cove Loop Road. There were very few cars and very few people, and we were able to just take our time and enjoy our surroundings. It really was a very peaceful time.
After a couple of hours of slowly driving along the road and stopping to see some of the other historic cabins and churches, we found ourselves at the Cades Cove Visitor Center. The visitor center had not yet opened, so we spent time exploring the area and discovered several other historic buildings. One of those structures was the John Cable Grist Mill
The John Cable mill was constructed in 1868, but Cable had a bit of a water problem. . .he didn’t have enough of it. To solve the problem, he built a series of elaborate diversions along the Mill and Forge Creeks to bring in enough water to power the wheel.
There were a couple of things that I thought would make for a nice photograph. First, I liked how both the bridge on the right and part of the split-rail fence created a nice leading line drawing the eye to the mill. Second, I liked the way the background trees seemed to create a natural frame around the structure. Third, I liked the textures of the mill itself, especially in the roof shingles.
I got everything set up and then turned my attention to my settings. First, I had to ensure complete depth of field, so I used the smallest aperture my lens had to offer, f/22. At a focal length of 24mm, that would keep the image reasonably sharp from about three feet to infinity. The sky was overcast, so I ended up with a shutter speed of 0.3 seconds. Fortunately, there was no wind, so the leaves wouldn’t be blowing. With everything set, I pressed the shutter button and captured the photograph.
Getting back home after our trip and opening the file on my computer, I immediately realized that, given the historic nature of the subject, I wanted to process this image as a monotone photograph. I converted the image to black and white and made exposure, contrast, and other adjustments. But, when I sat back and evaluated the results, I just didn’t get that sense of timelessness that I was looking for. After thinking about my options, I decided that applying a sepia tone might provide the feeling I was looking to convey. So, I applied a sepia tone, which worked as I hoped it would.
When I saw this image in my photo library and discovered it had been nearly 10 years since I visited the Smoky Mountains, I realized how much I miss visiting the area and how much I would love to go back. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do that, though, but I hope it’s sooner rather than later.