Bud Ogle Cabin in Winter © William Britten use with permission only

After a snowfall followed by frigid temperatures, I was out at the Ogle Place along the Roaring Fork in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On this morning I was trying to keep feeling in my fingers with the temperature around 9 degrees!

Photographing scenes like the ones above and below presents a challenge of extreme lighting conditions. The sun had begun to light up the snow, producing very bright highlights, but the shadow areas on the porch were still very dark. The range of light is simply too much for the camera to record.  So, a couple of strategies were used for these pictures.  First, about 4 exposures were taken–some over exposed and some underexposed–and blended together. Second, I converted the image to black and white, and blended that in with the color version.  Since these images have little color anyway, this technique serves to add some texture to the snow, keeping it from going to solid white.

The iconic Ogle Cabin nearly burned during the fires of November 2016. The fire came right up to the back porch, which would be to the left in the photo below.

If you’re in Gatlinburg, please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountain Photography at the William Britten Gallery on glades Road.

Bud Ogle Cabin in Winter © William Britten use with permission only

Bud Ogle Cabin in Winter © William Britten use with permission only