This is my home. My backyard. I have edited this journey down to 10 images. I hope you enjoy a year in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 1 - student project

Regardless of the subject matter, it's always, always, always about the Light!

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 2 - student project

We woke early one morning to witness the vibrant color and dew drops on these Flame Azalea atop Gregory's Bald.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 3 - student project

Mid-summer wildflowers with the Smokies in the distance.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 4 - student project

Bear cub among blackberries in late summer.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 5 - student project

If there is one iconic place in the hollow of the mountains, it is most certainly Cades Cove.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 6 - student project

As fall arrives, I begin to notice the gorgeous reflections of autumn trees in the mountain streams.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 7 - student project

With winter comes snow, often by the foot at our highest elevations. Full moon setting just before dawn one morning.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 8 - student project

First light peaks over the Oconoluftee Valley. I had placed my camera in a Spruce Tree to gain a different perspective.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 9 - student project

After 10 years of stumbling across these guys while kayaking the rivers or hiking alongside them, this season marked my first set of quality images of these playful River Otters here in the Smokies.

There's no place like home: Great Smoky Mountains - image 10 - student project

Spring returns to the mountains with green exploding from branches beneath buckets of rain.

Paul Hassell

Pro Wilderness Photographer

2,241

40

Company

Community

Teaching

Mobile

Company

Community

Teaching