Category Archives: White Rainbow
The spring wildflowers in the Smoky Mountains bring splashes of color along the rivers, streams and meadows. The main focus for capturing images during the Smoky Mountain workshop be larger landscapes of the wonderful meadows, mountains, rivers and waterfalls but we will also spend time on the small niches that bring color and character to the landscapes.

Wildflower close up captured during the Spring Smoky Mountain Workshop
This little cluster of wildflowers made a wonderful composition for a close up along a river that we were photographing last spring. I used Topaz Clarity to make this image pop and then used a vignette to bring the attention to the center of the Composition.
Hope that you will be able to join me for the Spring Smoky Mountain Workshop!!
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Photographic Workshop, Digital Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Rome photo workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tuscany photo workshop, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Cades Cove, Charleston Photographic Workshop, Dogwoods, Greenbrier, Gregg Cabin, Gregg-Cable house, Italian Photographic Workshop, Little River, Little River Road, Ogle Cabin, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Rome Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, Spring Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tremont, Tuscan Photo Workshop, Venice Italy Photographic Workshop, White Rainbow, Wildflowers
From the 26th through the 29th of October I will be back teaching in the Smoky Mountains one of our great national parks. The image of Sparks Lane was captured this april when the dogwoods were in full bloom and I am anxious to see it in its fall color.

Sparks Lane Simplify 4 Spring 2014
Throughout the smoky Mountains there are historical landmarks of the families that lived and raised their families in this area which help us make a connection with our past and sometimes our present. Last weekend I spent a few minutes with friend who’s last name is Sparks and asked if they had any connection to the Smoky Mountains. It was not surprising to find out that their family had moved to southern Indiana from Tennessee.
In October when I am capturing images on Sparks lane in the Smokies it will be fun thinking of the Sparks family members who I have spent time with capturing images of the masked characters at Carnival in Venice and at the top of St Peters Coppola in Rome.

Sparks Lane CR2 raw image Spring 2014
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Leave a comment | tags: Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Topaz Simplify | posted in Cades Cove, Dogwoods, Fog Bow, Greenbrier, Gregg Cabin, Gregg-Cable house, Lightroom 5.6, Little River Road, Photographic Workshops, River time exposure, Smokies, Smoky Mountains Institute, Smoky Mountains National Park, Topaz Clarity, topaz simplify, Tremont, White Rainbow
The morning mist that the Smoky Mountains famous also makes it a great photographic venue. This lone tree silhouetted in the mist with the moon rising behind it in Cades Cove is a wonderful example of how the Smokies gives us unique photographic opportunities.

Moon over tree silhouetted by the morning fog
Using Topaz B&W Effects 2 in the Platinum Collection I used Platinum VI to turn this lone tree into a great B&W.

Moon over tree in Cades Cove silhouetted by morning fog Topaz B&W Effects
I used Topaz Clarity to process and pop the color which I also like but I think that the Black and White gives this image more impact.

Cades Cove tree in the morning fog

Morning fog Cades Cove processed using Topaz Clarity

Cades Cove tree – Raw CR2
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Leave a comment | tags: Charleston Spring Photo workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity, Tuscany photo workshop, Venice Photo Workshop | posted in Cades Cove, Fog Bow, Gregg Cabin, Gregg-Cable house, Little River Road, Ogle Cabin, Paul Christopher James, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, Topaz Clarity, topaz simplify, Tremont, White Rainbow
The 4th of July is a great day to have fun with family and friends and plan trips to our great National Parks. My images below capture the beauty of Grand Canyon and remind me of the visual treasures the parks hold for us to photograph. I have scheduled two workshops this fall in our National Parks, hope you can join us.
The Great Smoky Mountains Workshop tour October 26-29 2014
Southwest Slot Canyon Workshop tour Nov. 8-14 2014.
Hope you can join me in one of our national parks!

Shadow Lands, South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Both Topaz and Nix software can work magic on your image. Today Ihave spent a little time today working on images of the Grand Canyon that are in my Panoramic Gallery. The Topaz software that I used to finish these images makes a huge improvement over the original processing in Photoshop CS3 used just a few years ago.

Tapestry of Light, South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Raw image with a few adjustments
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Leave a comment | tags: Italian Photographic Workshop, Nik Software, Paul Christopher James, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity | posted in Antelope Canyon, Cades Cove, Dogwoods, Fire Canyon Arch, Fire Wave, Fog Bow, Grand Canyon, Greenbrier, Hopi Point, Little River Road, Natural Arch, Nik software, Ogle Cabin, Owl Canyon, Page Arizona, Paul Christopher James, Photographic Workshops, Rime Ice, River time exposure, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Slot Canyon Workshops, Smokey Mountain Photo Workshop, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains Institute, Southwest Photo Workshop, Southwest Photographic Workshop Tour, The Watchman, Topaz Photo Software, topaz simplify, Tremont, Valley of Fire, Virgin River, White Rainbow, Zion National Park
When out photographing we should always look for the elements in a composition that will make our images stand out from the ordinary. It is these subtle differences that make our images special to us and others. On one of the morning shoots during the Smokey Mountain workshop the group was composing images at Cades Cove in the early morning fog. The area we were focused on started to brighten and we realized that a fog bow was forming.

Fog Bow – Cades Cove
When out capturing images I look for the best composition of the location and then for a difference that will make it stand out from other images that have been taken at that location. After walking around looking at every angle at every height and taking test image I find that it is often the soft morning light that makes an image special. Soft early morning light has always been the most important element in my images. The soft light only a few photographers are out enjoying and on this morning it was the combination of the way the light interacted with the fog to create the seldom seen fog bow also known as a white rainbow.
A fog bow is a similar phenomenon to a rainbow but it appears as a bow in fog rather than in rain. Because of the very small size of water droplets that cause fog—smaller than 0.05 millimeters (0.0020 in)—a fog bow has very weak colors, with a red outer edge and bluish inner edge. When the droplets are very small the fog bows appear white, and are called white rainbows.
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1 Comment | tags: Digital Photographic Workshop, Paul Christopher James, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Southwest Photo Workshop, Topaz Clarity | posted in Cades Cove, Dogwoods, Fog Bow, Greenbrier, Little River Road, Photographic Workshops, Smokies, Smoky Mountain Photo Workshop, Smoky Mountains National Park, topaz simplify, Tremont, White Rainbow