Smoky Mountain Guide

06/18/2024

"Take a Seat"

American Black Bear Video
Cades Cove, Tennessee
Guided Tour 6/11/24

06/14/2024

American Black Bear (male)
Bike Day 6/12/24
Wednesday I photographed 3 different male Black Bears (boars)in Cades Cove, Tennessee. Last week there was only one. Everything has been early this year, and although the blackberries aren't ripe just yet, the males have arrived for the breeding season. The females (sows) with current year cubs are moving fast to stay out of reach. Other sows, with last years cubs still in tow, will be walking away from those cubs to ensure their safety. They will subsequently breed with these boars.

06/14/2024

Cades Cove Gallery Yard and Antique Sale
Saturday 7am-11am 6/15/24

7843 E Lamar Alexander Parkway
Townsend, Tennessee 37882

Hope to see Y'all soon! :)

05/31/2024

Escape the summer heat & improve your photography skills in a Smoky Mountains adventure. Join our Waterfall Workshop July 15 ~ 19. All skill levels will enjoy this workshop with local wildlife and nature photographer, Barry Spruce. Only a few spots left, so register today! https://sprucephototours.com/tour/smoky-mountain-waterfalls/

05/27/2024

“Bears always get the Right-of-Way in Cades Cove”
5/17/24 Guided Tour
Smoky Mountains

05/25/2024

"Doing the Bear Paddle"
Cades Cove, Tennessee 5/24/24
Smoky Mountain Guided Tour
I have been doing photography for over 50 years and a professional Nature Photographer now for 17. In all that time I have never captured an American Black Bear Cub swimming across a river or creek. Today when guiding two clients, that is exactly what happened. A momma bear led her 3 Spring cubs to the creek and began to drink. After a few minutes, she stepped into the middle, and her cubs jumped in head first. The current was very fast from the recent rains. A few momma kisses and all was well, and they swam to the other side. My clients were grinning ear to ear after the cubs disappeared into a tree on the other side of the creek. They knew what they had just witnessed was special. When I told them it was a first time for me to photograph such a moment, they were even more excited. High fives were passed around, and we drove off to our next target. 🙂

05/24/2024

https://sprucephototours.com/tour/smoky-mountain-waterfalls/

05/21/2024

Smoky Mountain Woodpeckers
Pileated Woodpecker (male)
5/15/24 Guided Bike Tour
Cades Cove, Tennessee

05/17/2024

Biting not allowed!
Smoky Mountain Black Bears
Cades Cove, Tennessee

05/11/2024

Smoky Mountain Black Bears
Wrestling Bear Cubs 5/1/24
Cades Cove, Tennessee

They look like they are training for the summer olympics!
If interested in a personal guided tour to see or photograph Smoky Mountain Black Bears please go to my guiding website.
I am permitted to guide by the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and a portion of your payment always goes back to help Cades Cove and the Smoky Mountains. https://sprucephototours.com/tours/

05/04/2024

Smoky Mountain Black Bears
Black Bear sow nursing her 4 cubs
Cades Cove, Tennessee 5/1/24

On the first Wednesday closed to car traffic, my friend Randy Sakach and I rode bikes into Cades Cove. Along the way there were many Black Bears. We passed them up in hopes of spending time with this particular bear family. As soon as we arrived at her territory the whole family was spotted. It was 5:30pm, and we spent 2 hours photographing them. As we turned to leave, she got on her back which signaled "Dinner Time" to her cubs. They made a pretty good mess of the whole ordeal, and fresh milk was spilled everywhere.

***To see these details click on the image to enlarge it.***

To take this photograph we stood beside our bikes on the road, and the family was at about 100 yards. This is double the required distance by the national park of 50 yards. She was obviously not under any stress as her actions indicate.

05/03/2024

Black Bear Siblings
Cades Cove, Tennessee
5:30pm 5/1/24

What a great way to start the Black Bear season. We road our bikes in to the cove specifically to photograph a family of momma and 4 cubs. We were not disappointed and the cubs paired up multiple times and squared off in some bear wrestling matches. The evening ended after momma went on her back to let all four cubs nurse before going to rest for the evening. With Randy Sakach.

05/01/2024

Smoky Mountain Wildflowers
April 2024 Workshop
Horizontal Group 1

04/13/2024

Bald Eagle (immature)
Missouri 4/9/24

04/11/2024

Smoky Mountain Black Bear Cub
Black Bears stay alert of their surroundings. Even when they are walking, they are listening behind them and stop occasionally to look in the distance. Here a 2nd year cub uses a log to gain a little height to scan the horizon after drinking from a creek.

04/08/2024

2024 Solar Eclipse
Diamond Ring
Bald K**b Cross
Alto Pass, Illinois

04/03/2024

Strutting Tom Turkey
Cades Cove, Tennessee
3/29/24 Guided Tour

03/29/2024

03/23/2024

Check out our latest Spruce Photo Tours newsletter, and learn some fun facts about Smoky Mountain wildflowers.

Our Jackson Hole & Grand Tetons Workshop is almost full! Click below to register and join us November 4 - 9, 2024 for this photographic journey!

03/18/2024

02/24/2024

2024 Smoky Mountain Wildflower Workshop - Register Now!

Spring is in the air and the wildflowers will soon be adorning the Smoky Mountains. The earliest ephemerals already peak from the woodland floor ready to leaf out, flower, and fruit. They accomplish this within a short two-month period before the trees leaf out. But the show doesn’t end there as the Smokies are home to over 1,500 species of flowering plants. Wildflowers continue through summer and fall. Variations in elevation, rainfall, temperature, and geology create an ideal habitat for an amazing diversity of plants. In fact, there are over 20 flowering plants that are only found in the Southern Appalachians.

With so much diversity to experience, it can be daunting to plan a trip to photograph the wildflowers of the Smokies. Let us make it easy to capture the beauty of these flowers by joining our Smoky Mountain Wildflower Workshop. We’ve done all the work so that you can relax and get the shot. Join us April 15 – 19. Only a few spots are left for this exciting workshop! For more information: https://sprucephototours.com/.../smoky-mountain-wildflowers/

02/24/2024

"Sunbeams on your Real Life Road!"
Great Smoky Mountains, 2023

02/22/2024

I have a lot of Canon camera gear for sale. I have sold the cameras but have flash, flash commander, camera plates, lens plates, EF to RF adapter, end caps, filters, filter sets, extenders, batteries, and lenses. If interested please message me for more information. Please be specific as I am sure this will take a lot of time to answer all of you.

02/17/2024

Plump Raccoon
2024 Florida Workshop

This plump Raccoon walked along side of us for a .25 mile fishing the edge of the lake as we went. It posed just briefly for a nice candid shot when climbing a small Palm tree.

02/12/2024

A few whitetail deer photographs from Cades Cove this winter.

02/08/2024

Immature Red-Shouldered Hawk
Canon R5, Canon 400mm f/4 DO
Townsend, Tennessee
January 4th 2024
I got my professional start 17 years ago by doing Owls in Cades Cove, Tennessee. The passion for raptors and bird photography grew inside me and is reflected in my work through the years. If you want to learn how to take these type of images of raptors and other birds book a private Smoky Mountain tour or check out my birding workshops in Florida and New England. The next 2024 New England bird workshop is Rare Birds in June (https://sprucephototours.com/.../new-england-rare-bird-tour/).

02/01/2024

Burrowing Owl
Southern Florida, 1/24/24
2024 Florida Owl Workshop

01/12/2024

01/06/2024

Check-out our latest Quick Tips for beginners. Comment below and let us know what you enjoy photographing in the winter.

Photography tips for capturing great images in winter - landscapes, wildlife, black and white, monochromatic.