Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Cades Cove is one of my favorite spots in the Smoky Mountain area to shoot larger families. Some of the other GSMNP locations, like Foothills Parkway and other pull-offs, are too small to accommodate larger families. One of the disadvantages of shooting in Cades Cove, however, is that there is absolutely no cell service. If you happen to get lost, there’s no way to get in contact for a new meeting location! We have combated this, though, by sending a detailed email prior to the session so we are in the same location at the same time.

Cades Cove Loop

For this session during “hell week” (the week between Christmas and New Years Day,) it took me almost three hours to get through the loop from start to finish, not counting session time. This is another common issue with the area. Planning to be early will still put you behind, so you have to plan to be SUPER early in order to make it on time! Don’t let this deter you from the gorgeous scenery. Take the day and go for this drive. You may even see one of our famous black bears!

I absolutely love photographing grandparents with their grandchildren. These are images that mom and dad will cherish forever. They are some of the most sentimental photographs, in my personal opinion!

After this session, I went the long way around the loop so that I could scope out some other locations. The sky turned pink behind the mountains and the deer were grazing the fields. It was such a beautiful sight!