First Day of Spring

The First Day of Spring is perfect in any location in your home or office; but it is particularly spectacular over a fireplace when printed in a 24x36 size. It can be used all year round or alternated with an image from a different season.

The story behind the image:

Capturing “the perfect scene” seldom happens by chance. I had been photographing John Oliver Cabin in Cades Cove for years from this angle in different seasons. The framing by the dogwood tree creates a lovely foreground with the cabin in the background. The lighting, the sky, the weather, the foliage, etc. are different every time a photograph is taken. On the day that I took this image, which is my favorite photograph, everything fell into place.

This image was taken on March 21^st. At my home, in Townsend, TN, there was no snow. However, because of the elevation of Cades Cove, there were several inches. The gate into the National Park was open, but the Cades Cove loop was closed. Not to be deterred, I gathered up my gear and hiked to the cabin. I knew that if I could get there in time before the snow melted, it would be an amazing opportunity. I was definitely right. The sun and the blue sky created a perfect winter wonderland. I set-up and took this image from the angle that I had done many times before. I knew when I took the image, that this was it. I proceeded to go around the cabin photographing it from many vantage points being careful not to leave foot prints in the event someone else hiked in. When I finished taking my last image and picked-up my tripod to leave, the snow slid off the roof of the cabin! The extra effort and the years of photographing this subject paid off in an amazing image that I still consider to be my favorite photograph.

The goal of my photography is to capture a moment in time, and to share with the viewer the beauty that I observed. My images are single images. I use a program called Lightroom to process my RAW image to prepare them for printing. The image is then printed in the USA on metal or archival quality professional photo paper which is mounted and coated for durability. All images are copyright protected and reproduction in any format is strictly prohibited.