Morton Overlook is not only the premier Smokies sunset location for half of the year, it is a visual spectacle all year-round. In those non-iconic times, of which there are many, it often becomes a lens through which the mountains can be seen close-up and with appreciation. As the great air currents move across the faces of the ridges, as if they are campfires of moving fog, pieces of ridgeline are revealed then covered, as if magicians are at work playing some gigantic shell game purely for our ocular delight. Perhaps it is merely a game of hide-and-seek that the trees are playing with each other.

A focal length of 300mm gave me the narrow, compressed angle-of-view I wanted. An aperture of f/20 from the camera-to-subject distance provided depth-of-field; and a shutter speed of 1/15th second (fast enough to slow the moving cloud) at ISO 100 gave me an overall slightly-lighter-than-medium exposure.

In moments like these, Morton Overlook becomes a magic carpet ride offering a cornu copia of bird’s-eye views of the wonderland that is the Great Smoky Mountains.