Great Smoky Mountains Winter Visual Artistry Photography Workshop

Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
January 30 – February 3, 2026

Great Smoky Mountains Winter Workshop

Tremont, Greenbriar Gorge, Dynamic Overlooks, Flowing Rivers, Old Cabins, Hoar Frost, Ice Walls, Snow
January 30 – February 3, 2026
Nature, Landscape, Long-Exposure, Infrared, Panoramic Photography

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited park in America for a reason. One reason: It is spectacular to photograph! There are a multitude of striking overlooks, rushing rivers and gurgling streams full and flow, old cabins and settlements. Seasonal runoff can become outlined in ice. Mountain fog is beautiful in the winter and can produce delicate hoar frost, which is striking when backlit. Tony and Susan have been teaching in the Great Smokies for over 20 years and know the park inside in out, winter and spring, to navigate around the crowds in search of ideal weather and lighting conditions for incredible scenery and photographs.

Highlights

5-day workshop with 2-4 shooting locations per day to maximize your photo opportunities
Workshop group size limit of 8 photographers to enable one-on-one instruction
Tremont is an 8-mile long mountain river road, offering innumerable photo locations.
Greenbriar Gorge produces astounding winter reflections.
Newfound Gap and Morton Overlook and wonderful under snow cover.

Pricing & Registration

$2,300 for workshop instruction only. Registrants are responsible for travel, lodging, and meals.

Contact Susan Milestone at susan@tonysweet.com to register or ask questions.

Group Size

Up to 8 photographers

Experience

All levels. Must have working knowledge of camera controls and some software processing knowledge.
All cameras and gear are welcome.
Travel by private vehicle.
Walking on mostly flat terrain. Tony and Susan can help with any mildly challenging areas. Rain gear is advised.

Weather & Lighting

Daily highs in the low 40s, lows around 20 degrees.
Workshop includes pre-dawn, sunrise, late afternoon golden hour and photographing in light rain.

Travel

Airport: McKee Tyson airport in Knoxville, Tennessee
Hotel: Transfer time from the airport to Townsend, TN is approximately 45 minutes. Our home base is the Talley Ho Inn in Townsend, TN. We reserve a block of rooms in advance under “Tony Sweet Workshop” which our registered workshop participants can claim under their names. Lodging is not included in the workshop price.

Itinerary & Locations

Our daily schedule is entirely dependent on the weather and lighting conditions. We check weather continuously and decide where to go and when each day using weather conditions and forecasts.

This workshop offers 2-4 photo session locations per day, around 15-18 locations and different times of day. Our favorite photo locations include Cades Cover, Greenbriar Gorge, Foothills Parkway (both old and new), and Tremont.

What to Expect from Our Workshops

Each daily itinerary in our Visual Artistry workshops offers a perfect balance of shooting time in the field with rest, photo processing, and socializing with your fellow photographers.

Our workshops will shoot 2-3 locations each day, offering you a variety of scenes, lighting, and opportunities to advance your skills with help from Tony and Susan.

A typical day includes:

Sunrise and Morning Photo Session: We have many locations for sunrise, depending on the conditions. We will capture the most varied color palette of the day with soft, pre-dawn violets and purples to various cloud cover and clear skies. We have locations scouted for all possible weather and light conditions, along with backup plans.
Photographer’s breakfast: After the morning session, we invite our small group to join us as we retreat from our morning session for a leisurely group breakfast filled with “apres-shoot” conversation. Get to know your fellow photographers and learn from their personal photography journeys as you pursue your own path. We may or may not visit another morning location, depending on conditions.
Early afternoon photo critique: Everyone is invited to submit several photos for helpful, supportive critique that can provide immediate feedback and ideas to try during the following workshop photo sessions. These photo review sessions are an invaluable way to explore the creative vision of your fellow workshop photographers and see ways to amplify the strengths Tony and Susan see in everyone’s work.
Golden Hour photo session: In the afternoon, we will reconvene and move to our afternoon photo locations in time to discover and compose the scenes and prepare to adapt to rapidly changing lighting conditions.

After the final session of the day, you are “off the clock” and free for some alone time, dinner and/or drinks with companions, or further post-processing of the day’s harvest. Get rested and ready for the next morning, which arrives early.