Photos of Arkansas

Arkansas has way too many waterfalls to capture them all.  So I tend to pick a few and try to visit them many times during the year.  This enables you to get familiar with  yeathe surroundings and allows you to really find some of the best angles.  Over the years I have taken this head on shot of Dry Creeks falls many times.  This view was taken in 2006 after a really heavy rain fell in the immediate area.  Dry creek falls is a great spot to hike down to and really spend sometime working around the waterfall.  Make sure you also work the creek below the falls as there are a lot of great spots there also.

 

 

After hiking and photographing Cossatot falls, I was headed back to my truck and found the sun setting through a redbud tree growing along the bank.  The Cossatot River has many great redbuds along it’s banks but it’s rare to find a limb extending out over the river.  I just liked the way the single limb stood out against the setting sun.  This photograph was taken hand held with a Canon 1ds MKI camera.  There was a slight wind blowing so I used around a 1/200 shutter speed to make sure I would not get any wind noise.

 

When people think of white tree blossoms they mostly think of the Dogwood.  The dogwood tree is a great subject but it’s a fleeting subject at best.  With the Magnolia tree you have many months to work the blossoms.  I like to come in close when I work them.  The texture of the blossom petal is like a fine paper.  I like to work them with good natural light mostly used as a back  light.  The leaves also add to the shot with their deep green color and I often will include them in the photo.  The center of the blossom has amazing details also.  Once a blossom opens, you have only a couple of days to photograph it as it will quickly turn brown and drop off.

After a few visits to my site you will soon realize I love to photograph the rocks on the Cossatot.  Most of the rocks in Arkansas especially the Ozarks are limestone but on the Cossatot River you find a great amount of sandstone.  Sandstone will wear down faster than many other types of rock so around the Cossatot Falls most of the rocks have a smooth rounded look.  As you walk around the falls make sure you look down around your feet as some of the best photographic subjects will be there.  Each of the big rocks will have many small fissures and pools which offer wonderful macro subjects.  It’s best to plan a hike after a good rain so the pools will be holding water.

 

In the forest around Stack Rock (which is near Dicky Junction in Searcy County) there is a abundance of mature maple trees.  These trees all seem to produce a wonderful yellow color in the fall.  As you hike up to Stack rock you will walk through at least 3 separate groves of Maples each of which can produce a wonderful display of foliage.   I prefer to photograph the fall displays on a clear day using the deep blue sky color as a backdrop.

 

Arkansas has hundreds of bluffs  which run for many miles.  Often you can stand so high that you are level with the top of the trees that are immediately below the bluff.  At Pedestal Rocks, this effect is very pronounced.  This particular black gum has been a favorite of mine for many years.  It was heavily damaged in the ice storm of 2009 and may not ever have the same shape.  Black gums will produce an amazing deep red color and over the last 5 years seem to have turned earlier than most of the other trees.

The Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area is one of my favorite spots to hike and photograph.  You can get amazing views of each of the rock formations throughout the year, my favorite times are spring and fall.  However in the winter I often like to work the area especially with Black and White.  If you go, make sure you also visit King’s Bluff which is one hollow away and connected by a loop trail.

I have learned a lot from Arkansas photographer Michael Dougherty.  He lives in Compton which is the gateway to the entire Upper Buffalo Country and is out almost everyday photographing the Boxley Valley.  Michael is the premier Elk photographer in Arkansas and has an extreme knowledge of both the Elk and the other wildlife that inhabit the Boxley Valley and Buffalo.  You can find more about Michael here I am lucky to be able to call him a friend.

One spot I like to photograph the Little Rock skyline from is the North Little Rock side of the river near the I-30 bridge.   I found this couple sharing the experience one morning in February.  The view is due east and the bridge is the Old Rock Island bridge.

The Arkansas Delta is a challenge for me to photograph.  I was on a trip to Lake Village State Park and came across these two lone trees standing against a strikingly beautiful sky.  I had to drive another mile to find a spot pull of the road since there were ditches on each side of the highway.