Photos of Arkansas

Sam's Throne sunset early Autumn--Click on image for a larger view

Taken in 2007, with a 1Ds MKII, 24-70 Lens at F11 24mm, ISO 100. You can find some really nice fall views up at Sam’s Throne right now. The colors up there have just about peaked and should be good for the next few days.  The best time to photograph Sam’s on a clear day, would be from early morning till when the sun has crossed over and is in front of the throne.  So anytime from dawn till around 2:00 pm.  Anytime after that and you will be shooting right at the sun.  I feel that a sunny day is much better for shooting fall foliage (something many others would disagree with), but on a sunny day, you will pull much more color and contrast from the leaves which will make the scene just POP.  This image was taken as a HDR and I used the period of when the sun just has set behind the ridge in the distance to get the best effect.  Sam’s has some great views and it is a wonderful spot to spend the day.

Fall Vista from Sam't Throne--Click on image for a larger view

One of the best views in Arkansas, in my humble opinion, is the westward view from the summit of Sam’s Throne.  Here you can see all the way to the Buffalo River on a clear day.  In this view the large mountain in the distance on the right side of the image is Red Rock.  The valley down from Red Rock is the valley of  Vendor and St. Hwy 374 runs east and west through the valley.  Sam’s Throne is one of the major climbing spots in Arkansas and recently the area was improved for camping and a restroom was added.  This is a great day trip from Little Rock and in the past I have always had good fall color at Sam’s.  So far I have yet to find anything in the way of good color in the State, especially on the Buffalo River, Richland Creek or the Stack Rock area.  I have yet to make the drive to Sam’s Throne but plan to make it up there next week.

Early morning along the Buffalo River--Click on image for a larger view

Taken with a Canon 1ds MKII, on Tripod, shutter speed 1/20 of a second with a 24-70 F 2.8 lens at 24mm, ISO 100. The Buffalo River is a great place so spend sometime with your camera, but in the fall and one of the best times would be the fall.  You can count on some good color along the banks of the river and depending on the season and rainfall possibly good color all around.  There is good access to the Buffalo River along it’s entire length, but I like to hike it along the upper end near Ponca.  Here you will find some of the tallest bluffs of the entire river including Big Bluff which by most accounts is the tallest on the river at over 500 feet.  Trails abound both official and game trails and it will be well worth your trip!

Autumn Night sky over Roark Bluff--Click on photograph for a larger view

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, 27 minute exposure at ISO 100, 14mm lens at F5.0.  The night sky can really become a beautiful sight if you can get a really clear night and find a spot that doesn’t have a lot of local light pollution.  The upper Buffalo is one of the spots.  The rolling hills help to block out the lights from local homes.  There are not really many large towns near the Ponca area, (not counting Ponca itself) so you don’t have to worry as much about the light.  Harrison is the closest city and it’s far enough away and over enough hills that most of the light is not seen, however you can see even in the shot that there is more light at the top of the bluff and that is all from mainly local lights.  The blue color comes from the fact that I was shooting with a nearly full moon.  The moonlight over a time exposure will most times give you the effect of daylight, and provides some amazing effects.  The problem you tend to run into is that too much moonlight will make the dimmer starts fade out and thus your star trails will not be as thick and tight as in this shot.

Midnight sky over Roark Bluff--Click on photograph for a larger view

Taken with a Phase One P45+, Iso 50, 40 minute exposure @ F3.5, 35mm lens. This is one of my favorites from 2010 on the Buffalo.  I had hoped that the color on the Buffalo would be more uniform, however in 2010, I felt that the overall fall color was not that good.  The Buffalo is a great spot to work, as you can start near Ponca and follow the colors all the way to the White River.  I like to spend a lot of time up near Ponca working the river near Steel Creek and Big Bluff.  On this night, I had been working Sam’s Throne and the wind was just too strong so I packed up and headed north to Roark Bluff.  When I got there, the moon was out which is how I was able to get the bluff illuminated.  One of the tricks when working with night photography is figuring out the balance between the moon and sky.  You need the moon to brighten up the scene as it adds a great blue hue to the sky and strongly illuminates the rest of the scene.  However too much moon light will defeat the star trails as it will allow only the brightest stars to show.  I was lucky on this night as I hit the combination early and was able to catch the north star also.

Wheels of Steam, Union Pacific Engine 844--Click on photograph for a larger image

Taken with a Canon 1Ds MKII, Olympus 24mm Shift lens, at F4.5, ISO 200, hand held at 1/80 of a second. I am not sure what it is about steam engines and trains, but I have always loved them, way back to my childhood days.  When I found out that the Union Pacific 844 was coming through Little Rock in 2006, I got up early to make it to North Little Rock before she would be getting up steam.  I had a great morning working my way around the train, but this one shot has always been one of my favorites.  The engineers had just taken their walk around the train and lubed the main spots and they were telling me all about the engine and its history.  What has always caught my eye was the way the silver drive rods contrasted against the dark blue grey of the wheels sitting on the rusty rail.  You can see this engine at the Union Pacific main depot in Cheyenne Wyoming.   They run the engine across the United States every other year or so and it always seems to come through North Little Rock.  I had hoped to catch it in 2006 when it was cross the main Barring Cross Bridge over the Arkansas River, but I missed it since they were running early that day.

Sundown from Fort Roots--Click on photograph for a larger view

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, 24-70 Lens at 35mm, F 14.  Created from 4 separate images taken at various exposures to capture the full dynamic range of the scene.   I love to get up to Fort Roots, as the view from around the summit is excellent.  You can get a great view of downtown Little Rock or if you walk around the track to towards the back side, you can catch some great views of western Little Rock.  Of course you will also be able to see Pinnacle Mountain which stands out like a volcano in the distance.  On this day, as the sun set, the entire sky turned a deep orange color which I tried to capture as best as I could without losing all the light around the sun.  I wanted to use the two pine trees in the foreground to frame the right side of the shot and hoped to capture some of the sky color in the river.  I ended up taking several exposures and then using a combination method developed by Tim Farr to combine all the images into one master images.

Cedar Creek below the Falls on Petit Jean Mt.--Click on photograph for a larger view

Taken with a Phase One P45, 35mm Lens, F16, ISO 50, with a CL-PL and ND4.   If  you plan on a trip up to Petit Jean this fall to catch some of the fall colors, plan to take a hike along Cedar Creek.  You can best get down to the creek from the Mather Lodge trail head, which starts behind Mather Lodge.  Along the trail which winds it’s way down the bluffs behind Mather Lodge, make sure you look for the small creek that run besides the trail as it offers some really great photographic opportunities.  This particular shot was taken while I climbed up in the rocks directly below Cedar Falls.  This area is one of the most photogenic in the whole area.  I used a CL-PL filter to cut the glare off the water and to help bring out the various colors on the trees.  The ND4 was added to give me a slow enough shutter speed to give the water the effect I wanted without blowing out the highlights.  This particular day was very windy so I had to time out the shot between the various gusts.

Lone Sentinel at Sam's Throne--Click on image for a larger view)

Taken with a Canon 5D MK2, 25 minute single exposure, ISO 100, 14mm Lens Night photography has become a passion for me, it’s puts a totally different perspective on things.   There is a lot of work that goes into each shot and for sure the sky will always be different depending on the time of year.  Arkansas has some really interesting spots to work from at night and I have found that Sam’s Throne and the surround bluffs is one of the best.  There are all types of perspectives that can be worked out and many times you can have a view that faces the north so that you can pull in the classic star rotation around the north star.  Cooler temperatures make a big difference in the quality of the shot you will get.

Sunset afterglow from Flatside Pinnacle--(Click on image for a larger view)

When listing some of the best spots for a sunset in western Arkansas, Flatside Pinnacle always comes to mind.   Here you are looking due west and the rolling hills of the Quachita mountains are quite a sight.  You can often get a great sunset from here, but if you will wait a few minutes after the sun has gone down, you will be treated to a even great view.  The afterglow from the sun will many times light up the haze in the summer sky and produce some very vibrant colors.  Also the haze seems to drop down to the tops the hills and just makes for a special scene.  This photograph was taken with a Canon 1Ds MKII, with a 24-70 lens set to 24mm at Aperture F 11. This was a digital capture that I developed in Photoshop.  I have found that a scene like this can be created best when you take at least 4 separate exposures as a bracketed series and then work all of the images together into one final photograph.