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Overview:
Join me for an immersive spring photography workshop at Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of North Carolina’s most diverse and visually rewarding landscapes. This hands-on experience is centered on photographing spring wildflowers and mountain scenery along the Mountains to Sea Trail, where rolling high-country meadows, hardwood forests, and sweeping overlooks come alive with seasonal color. As spring unfolds, the trail is lined with trillium, violets, spring beauties, bluets, and emerging greenery, offering endless creative opportunities for photographers of all levels.
Throughout the workshop, we’ll focus on intentional landscape and nature photography, teaching you how to slow down, observe light, and compose meaningful images in a dynamic mountain environment. You’ll learn how to photograph wildflowers in both intimate macro-style compositions and wider environmental scenes that place them within the context of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We’ll explore techniques for working with diffused forest light, managing high-contrast scenes, using foreground elements for depth, and composing along winding trails and open vistas. Emphasis will be placed on camera settings, lens choice, focus techniques, and creative decision-making specific to spring conditions in the Appalachian high country.
This workshop is ideal for photographers looking to strengthen their skills while experiencing one of the best spring wildflower destinations on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Whether you’re interested in landscape photography, nature photography, or hiking-based photo exploration, the Mountains to Sea Trail at Doughton Park provides an inspiring classroom. Expect personalized instruction, field demonstrations, and thoughtful guidance designed to help you come away with stronger images and a deeper connection to the landscape.
Itinerary:
Our day will begin with an early morning drive northbound along the Blue Ridge Parkway for a sunrise photography session at the incredible Doughton Park, located directly on the Mountains to Sea Trail. This stretch of trail is absolutely blanketed with spring wildflowers, so much so that you’ll need to watch every step—blooms line the path in every direction. As first light spills across the rolling high-country landscape, the combination of fresh spring color, layered mountain ridges, and soft morning atmosphere creates a truly breathtaking sunrise photography experience and an unforgettable way to start the day.
Following sunrise, we’ll focus on capturing the wildflowers in beautiful golden side light, perfect for adding depth, texture, and glow to your images. This is an ideal time to work with a macro lens, a mid-range focal length, or even a zoom lens with close-focusing capabilities, all of which work exceptionally well in this environment. We’ll discuss composition, background control, working with shallow depth of field, and techniques for isolating individual blooms while still telling a broader story of place along the Mountains to Sea Trail.
After our morning shoot, we’ll head over to the Bluffs Restaurant for a well-earned brunch. This fun, local restaurant sits right on the Blue Ridge Parkway and is rich with regional history—a perfect place to relax, refuel, and soak in the heritage of the area before heading back out into the field.
Late morning brings another shift in photographic opportunities as we return to Doughton Park and the Mountains to Sea Trail for more spring blooms, expansive mountain views, and creative exploration. One of my favorite subjects during this time of day is the abundance of birds and butterflies, which are often everywhere among the flowers and completely irresistible to photograph. This is where your longer lenses will really shine, allowing you to capture intimate wildlife moments set against vibrant floral backgrounds.
To wrap up our session, we’ll experiment with creative techniques like ICM (Intentional Camera Movement)—a fun and expressive approach to photographing flowers, color, and motion that encourages you to loosen up and see the landscape in new ways. It’s a fantastic, creative way to end the day and walk away with images that feel fresh and unique.
Don’t miss out on this immersive spring photography adventure on the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. From sunrise landscapes and wildflower photography to wildlife, creative techniques, and iconic Appalachian scenery, this workshop offers a full day of inspiration along one of the most beautiful sections of the Mountains to Sea Trail.
TERRAIN
Mountain Terrain, dirt, trail and rock. Good sturdy footwear is recommended
ACTIVITY
Easy to Moderate trail walking up to a 1.5 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
Light Painting in the Twilight
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 softwares
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.