Next week I will be heading up to Tennessee to photograph wildlife. I try to go during the non-school-vacation periods so the crowds are smaller and the annoying level is lower!
One place will be in Great Smoky Mountains National Park called Cades Cove
www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cadescove.htm. I prefer to stay on the Townsend TN side and then enter the Cove just a few miles doen the road. The 11-mile loop road gives you great scenic views of the Smokies, historic buildings and cabins, and -- my favorite--wildlife. This time of year should find white tail bulls with big, fancy antlers, a few wild turkeys, maybe a fox or coyote, and black bears who haven't headed for bed yet.
The animals are wild, so you must stay back at a safe distance both for yourself and for them. Rangers frequently have to come out and remind those dumb "tourons" that this is not DisneyWorld, and the animals are REAL! I have seen and heard stories of adults trying to coax their little ones to feed or pet or just go stand near that deer in the field. Geez!
The other spot I will be hitting is in western Tenn along the KY border called Land Between the Lakes National Wildlife Preserve
www.lbl.org. This is the spot for elks and bison. The elks come from Rocky Mountain National Park (where I was in August) and get buffed up and healthy and then get released in the eastern Smokies. Since they are free there, they have on thick radio collars for tracking and ugly big yellow ear tags. Only Flo on the Progressive commercials would like those big tricked-out tags!
At LBL the elk have no bling and as long as you can find them off at the treeline or bushes you can great shots. Finding them is the hard part! The bison are raised there, too, and are being reintroduced to the area. By now they should have on their big, thick winter coats. Last summer I got soem great shots of mommas with their calves. Again these animals are wild, and you are required to stay back away from them. A good, long lens in the 200mm+ category will work with them.
I am looking forward to testing out my new Nikon TC-14EII teleconverter. It should arrive around Thanksgiving from Hunts Photo and Video
www.huntsphotoandvideo.com. This along with my Nikon 200-400 VR f/4.0 lens and my Nikon D300 should give me approximately a 900mm lens without the cost or weight of a gianormous lens. In a later blog, I'll let you know how it did with those elusive elk.