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I'll lead you through the sprawling landscapes, revealing the best angles to frame these iconic blooms against the expansive mountain backdrop. The Grassy Balds of Roan Mountain provides an unparalleled setting, creating a visually stunning canvas for both amateur and professional photographers. Join me on this expedition, where your lens will capture the vibrancy of rhododendron blooms against the vast, open skies and layers upon layers of the Roan Highlands, ensuring you an unforgettable photography experience and one for the memory books!
Overview:
Join me for a one-day landscape photography workshop at Roan Mountain, one of the most iconic high-elevation locations in the Southern Appalachians. This workshop takes place along the Appalachian Trail on Roan Mountain, famous for its expansive grassy balds, rolling golden grasses, wild blueberries, and sweeping 360-degree mountain views that stretch across North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Late summer is a spectacular and often overlooked season on Roan, offering warm light, dramatic skies, and a unique blend of textures and colors that are ideal for creative landscape photography.
This immersive photography workshop is designed to help participants slow down and photograph intentionally in an open, high-country environment. You’ll learn how to work with vast open landscapes, minimalist compositions, and constantly changing mountain light. Emphasis will be placed on composing wide, layered scenes as well as finding intimate details—golden grass patterns, weathered trail lines, and blueberries tucked into the alpine terrain. Whether you’re new to landscape photography or looking to refine your skills, Roan Mountain provides an inspiring natural classroom.
Participants will receive hands-on instruction in composition, camera settings, lens choice, and light management, with a strong focus on reading the landscape and adapting to conditions. The Appalachian Trail on Roan Mountain offers incredible access to scenic viewpoints, gentle ridgelines, and open horizons, making it an ideal location to practice photographing scale, depth, and atmosphere in mountain environments.
Itinerary:
We will begin our day northbound on the Appalachian Trail from Carvers Gap, stepping immediately into one of the most spectacular floral displays in the Southern Appalachians. From the moment we hit the trail, rhododendrons are abundant, lining the path and filling pockets of the landscape in select areas along the AT. These large, elegant blooms create incredible opportunities for both intimate close-up compositions and wider environmental scenes set against the rolling mountain backdrop.
Intermixed with the rhododendrons, we’ll encounter Flame Azaleas, blooming at the same time in a stunning range of colors—from soft, pale orange to deep, fiery tones. These vibrant shrubs provide bold focal points and beautiful color contrast against the greens of the high country and the distant blue ridgelines. In some seasons, we may also be lucky enough to find the rare Gray’s Lily, which occasionally blooms a bit early. This delicate, striking red flower grows low to the ground and requires a careful, respectful approach—both for protecting the plant and for crafting thoughtful compositions.
Throughout the morning, we’ll focus on how to photograph these unique mountain wildflowers using a variety of lenses and creative techniques. You’ll learn how to work with macro lenses, mid-range focal lengths, and longer lenses to isolate blooms, manage backgrounds, and control depth of field. We’ll also explore fun and creative approaches to photographing flowers, including perspective changes, selective focus, working with backlight, and experimenting with movement and abstraction to create images that go beyond the obvious.
Midday, we’ll take a break for a trail-style lunch, settling into a shaded spot along the Appalachian Trail. Lunch will be prepared in advance, giving us time to relax, review images, talk through questions, and soak in the incredible surroundings before heading back out with fresh eyes.
After lunch, we’ll revisit the blooms as the light shifts, offering a completely different photographic look than earlier in the day. Changing angles of light often reveal new textures, color saturation, and mood, allowing us to refine compositions and build on what we learned throughout the morning. This final session is a great opportunity to slow down, apply techniques more intentionally, and focus on storytelling within the landscape.
As we wrap up the day, you’ll be surrounded by sweeping 360-degree views with visibility stretching close to 100 miles, covering three states from the high ridges of Roan Mountain. It’s an unforgettable setting—one that combines rare mountain wildflowers, expansive Appalachian scenery, and hands-on learning into a truly immersive experience.
Prepare yourself for an incredible adventure among the blooms, where photography, exploration, and the magic of the Appalachian Trail come together for an unforgettable day in the high country.
TERRAIN
Mountain Terran, dirt, forest peat, trail and rock. Good sturdy footwear and a hiking pole are recommended
ACTIVITY
Easy to Moderate trail walking up to a 3 miles
EXPERIENCE
Aspiring to Advanced. Cell Phones are welcome
GROUP SIZE
6-7 Participants
TEMPERATURES
30-80 degrees. Full Winter and Summer Outerwear is recommended.
HUMIDITY
35 %
NEAREST AIRPORT
Asheville, NC
Charlotte, NC
Topics we will cover
How to research potential shoot locations
How to read the weather
Learn how to create powerful compositions and bring your artistic vision to life
Visualizing your composition, capturing and guiding the viewer
The use of Neutral Density and ND Graduated filters to enhance and control light.
How to identify and control: Balance and visual flow
The use of filters to enhance and control light. How to “see” light
How to control shutter speed for the look you want
Histograms, how to read them, and why they play an important role
Focus Stacking for extreme front and back focus
How to use lens compression, when to use it, and when to go wide
How to blend focal lengths and exposures to maximize Dynamic Range
How to create beautiful Long Exposures to unveil a hidden visual world of intrigue and wonder
Image Critique and the Visual Experience. How do others interpret and read your images?
Post Processing and Digital Workflow in Lightroom and Photoshop, including third party software
What’s included
Photography instruction with Landscape Photographer Tommy White.
Lightroom and Photoshop training.
One full day of landscape photography on the Roan Mountain Highlands.
One-on-one field guidance on framing, settings, visual flow, and “seeing” in the landscape.
GPS field guidance to track our shoot locations. Other helpful software.
Drinks and Snacks are provided during the Workshop.
How to use your equipment.
Visual interpretation of the landscape. How to “see” and use the light.
Follow up online training following the Workshop.
Guidance and safety throughout the entire trip.
What’s not included
Participants should plan to provide their own transportation. Carpooling will be available at your own discretion.
Meals during the trip. I will always have drinks and snacks on hand, but plan to travel with your own favorites as well.
Lodging - We will provide information for you on Lodging upon registration.
Park and admission fees. We are fully permitted in State and National Parks, but occasionally there are other fees per individual.
Alcoholic beverages.
Travel Insurance (Highly Recommended, but optional).
Personal Items.
PACK LIST
Click HERE to view the Packlist
Cancellation Policy: If you need to cancel your booking more than 30 day out, you will be issued a trip credit for any other Workshop in the same year. If your cancellation is within 30 days of the trip, your payment will be forfeited.