The Gatekeeper

Gatlinburg, Tennessee is known as the "Gateway to the Smoky Mountains".  I have visited here multiple times as a child and now I call it home.  I have stayed true to my lessons on this and a few other paintings  in that I'm not creating an image of anything I have not seen in reality.  This big MaMa had three cubs with her and they were feeding at the top of a steep hillside.  Of course there was a crowd peering at her from a sane distance but I decided she was going to be the subject of my next canvas, sooooo, I began my little trek up upwards armed with my

70-200mm lens.  Fifty yards is the legal distance I am allowed but I figured if I could not look into her eyes there would be no point in even opening my paints. I could only hope 200mm would give me the detail I needed.  I then heard someone say, "Look at that crazy lady with the Nikon!" (hence my blog name minus the adjective).  She agreed with the onlooker and finally looked down at me and in so many bear language sounds let me know I should back off.  I respected her space and fired off a few quick snaps of the shutter and then practically fell back down the mountain.  Just in time...here came the park rangers.  I cropped out the mountain behind her to reveal the vastness of a typical Smoky Mountain scene.