Articles and Written Work | Photos of Arkansas

Review of Breathing Color’s Crystalline Glossy Canvas–One Photographer’s perspective

Since I started to print on Canvas over 5 years ago, I have been looking for a Glossy canvas that will give me the look and feel of a high gloss photographic print. The ability to use the Photo black ink set and get the best overall Dmax is very important to me. I [...]

Gallery Accolades from the Democrat Gazette

Ellis Widner, Style Editor of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, had the following kind words to say about my “Arkansas and the Range of Light” exhibition at Cantrell Gallery: Paul Caldwell’s show at Cantrell Gallery is ravishingly beautiful; the sometimes saturated color digital photographs of Arkansas landscapes can take on the aura of photorealistic paintings. —Satisfying [...]

04/29/11 1205 Forest Service Road update and others

On the 04/29/11 I was able to get away for most of the day and hit the woods looking for water. Of course I knew I wouldn’t have to look too far since this has to have been one of the wettest Aprils I can remember. I headed up Hwy 7 towards [...]

Report on my Lost Valley Hike from early January 2010

I wrote this article in 2010, but if you are planning a winter hike to Lost Valley in Newton County, you may find this information helpful. With all of the places in Arkansas to hike, it’s hard to pick a favorite. But one place will always be at the top of my list and that [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Clark Creek, Hiking, Outdoors, Waterfall

Review of Last years high water in Newton County High Water

If you can get away in the next few days, make sure you travel to Newton County. Anywhere you look, you will find excellent waterfalls. I would consider Smith Creek, Clark Creek, and Hemmend in Hollow for starters. The high bluffs along the Buffalo River will have small waterfalls running off of them. These falls [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Buffalo River, Clark Creek, Newton County, Smith Creek, Waterfalls

11-14-09 Fall Follow up On-Going

The fall in Arkansas can be one of the most beautiful seasons in the state. Many elements seem to have to come together however to make for a perfect fall and once again in 2009 in most parts of Arkansas, I just didn’t see the best fall colors. In the next few entries, I will [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Autumn leaf color, Cedar Falls, Ouachita Mountains, Travel

The Sun Still Shines, Just Not Right Now

With all the rain of late, I felt it would be a great idea to post some shots that were taken during the brief dry spell we had in June and early July. I tend to try to get up to Petit Jean as often as I can mainly since it’s so close to Little [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Image editing, photoshop, United States

Boxley Valley Report and early signs of fall

Last week I was able to get up to the Boxley Valley and do some shooting. I had hoped to catch the fog at Roark Bluff, but on this morning there was no fog. The skies were very overcast and really did not hold that much promise for photography of the Steel Creek area, so [...]

Tags: Autumn, Boxley Valley, Fall

Sad Times at Fort Roots

For any photographer, being able to capture a great sunset which features the local geography is a treat. As I live in Little Rock, I am always trying to find a new spot to take in a sunset that features the city. Little Rock has many great subjects that add to any photographic situation. These [...]

Tags: Fort Roots, Litter, Little Rock

Richland Creek Hike and Update

Paul explores the Richland Wilderness Area, park of Arkansas Ozark National Forest, encountering ice storm damage.

Tags: Hiking, Ozark National Forest, Richland Creek, Twin Falls

Springtime at Flatside Pinnacle

The full effect of the springtime colors can really be seen at Flatside Pinnacle. I feel that the westward view from Flatside is by far one of the best vistas in Arkansas. You can see Forked Mountain way off in the distance. But to me the most impressive view is slightly to the left of [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Clouds, Colors, Flatside Pinnacle, Forked Mountain, Pinnacle Mountain, Spring, Storm, Wind

2009 Springtime report on Upper Buffalo River Valley

I made my first Springtime trip up to the Boxley Valley and surrounding areas. The drive up was an eyeopener due to the tremendous amount of damage to the trees from the January 2009 ice storm. I had seen some of the damage earlier in the year on Hwy 65 north of Clinton, but the [...]

Tags: Boxley Valley, Broadwater Falls, Buffalo River, Fog, HDR Photography, Redbuds, Spring

Gunner Pool and Sylamore Creek

I had spent so much time up on the upper Buffalo river that I felt it would be a good thing to check into some of the rest of the Ozarks. I had not traveled up Hwy 65 yet so I decided to head up to the Sylamore Creek/Gunner Pool area. Leaving Little Rock, on [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Gunner Pool, HDR, Sylamore Creek

Fall 2008 Update

The colors in the far north Fayetteville area seem to be behind the Upper Buffalo Area. Last weekend, I found the areas around Ponca, to already have dropped their leaves or the trees were just turning brown. However the valley near Kyles Landing should be perfect this weekend as the oaks last week were just [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Autumn, Big Bluff, Boxley Valley, Fall, Fayetteville, Horseshoe Canyon, Kyle's Landing, Maple, Oak, Ponca, Roark Bluff, Sam's Throne, Steel Creek, Sycamore, Vendor Valley

Update on Fall Colors in Arkansas

Throughout the central part of Arkansas, Pulaski, Saline, and Perry Counties, the fall colors have yet to even begin to peak. Based on the colors that were showing at Flatside Pinnacle on Thrusday, I feel that it will be the middle of November before any real peak happens here and maybe as late as the [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Fall, Perry County, Pulaski County, Saline County

Arkansas Elk in Boxley Valley

Over the past weekend, I spent some time up at Ponca AR to photograph the Elk herd. The Elk in Arkansas are considered a great success as the heard now has grown to close to 500 animals. The viewing of the herd has become a big item at Ponca and on the weekends you can [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Boxley Valley, Elk, Ponca, Yellowstone

Richland Creek Hike

I had hoped that more rainfall would have occurred in the later part of September so that Richland and other creeks would be at a higher level in October. It has been 2 years now since there was good water in Richland Creek during fall. All the way up HWY 7, I noticed that the [...]

Tags: Arkansas, Bill's Thrill Rapid, Fall, Hiking, Maple, Maytag Rapid, Richland Creek, Sweetgum

Book Review: Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D1, D1h & D1x (2nd ed)

I have used either the D1 or D1x cameras now for over 1-½ years. Previous to that I used several of the prosumer digital cameras before upgrading to the Nikon D Series. I have been involved with outdoor photography for over 25 years mainly as a personal hobby/passion. Before the advent of the 2.1mp digital [...]

Tags: Color balance, Film speed, Nikon, Nikon D1

Noise Ninja

Why Noise Removal? Most digital files show noise at high ISO but also at low ISO in the the deep shadows. Noise removal can be tricky and also very time consuming if you use advanced tools like Neat Image. We most of the time stay away from noise removal. How? We use low ISO values [...]

Tags: Microsoft Windows, Noise Ninja, Noise reduction

Scenic Photography with the D1X

I am writing this review in the form of a field report. I have used the D1 for over a year and now have used the D1x for about 3 months. In my photography, I mainly focus on scenic shots involving rivers and creeks in my native state of Arkansas. I also do some event [...]

Tags: Camera, Nikon, Nikon D1, review

Workflow Technique #28: Genuine Fractals Sharpening

If I were to do a simple poll on the various forums in regards to questions on digital technique, I feel that sharpening would have to be a topic that would land in the top 5. You will see so many questions on sharpening. Should you sharpen in camera at the time of image capture, [...]

Tags: Genuine Fractals, Noise reduction, photoshop, sharpen

Fuji S2 RAW files converted with Qimage

The Fuji S1 (our review) had a severe limitation that it did not support any RAW format and you probably know we (and many other fine art photographers) believe that you can get the best out of all digital SLRs only if you use RAW files. We hope to have soon a Fuji S2 experience [...]

Tags: Color balance, Nikon, photoshop, Raw image format, SRGB

My Essentials: Equipment Review

Reviewed in this report: Manfrotto Carbon 1 3443 Tripod Really Right Stuff, L Bracket for Canon 1Ds Arca B1 Pro Ball Head All photographers choose their essential pieces of equipment. In this review I am going to discuss my top three. My way of determining this is simple, on each trip I ask myself, how [...]

Tags: equipment, essentials, photobag

Workflow Technique #10: Got Noise? Get Neat!

Very long time to process, average 8 minutes for a 35mb file on a 1.8Ghz AMD with 1GB of memoryMost comprehensive noise tool I have usedAs I have progressed through my digital career over the last 4 years, I have always looked closely at any software tool that works to reduce noise. I have tried [...]

Paul Caldwell’s Top 10 in 2003

2003 was a great year for camera technology and as the year winds down, there are still new products coming out almost daily. I made a huge decision in 2003 to move from Nikon to Canon. For over 20 years, I have used Nikon equipment, either 35mm film or various digital cameras. However as I [...]

The Glory of Fall: Tips and Techniques for Shooting Fall Colors

I have two definite seasons that take up the majority of my outdoor shooting time. These are spring and fall. Living in Arkansas, we have a great fall display along with an excellent spring display. The State has a tremendous number and variety of deciduous trees. These include the Oak and Maple family but also [...]

Sharpening: A Necessary Evil of Digital Work

I have been involved with photography now over 25 years, and have worked closely with digital photography the last 2 ½. In the past, my photography work was with slides and prints. I worked in my own darkroom for at least 10 years, moving from black and white to the Cibachrome process. After many years [...]

Sunsets, A Study in Light (Also a love for the 80/400 VR lens)

Since I have been shooting photographs, I have been fascinated by sunsets. The sun while setting or rising can offer the photographer lighting that is never available at any other time of the day. In the past with film I tended to find that I was spending a lot of time shooting and guessing. I [...]