Photos of Arkansas

Moonset over Boxley Valley--Click on image for a larger view

I was headed into the Boxley Valley to photograph Elk and as I came around the final corner on Hwy 21, I found this scene just as the full moon was setting.  I was amazed at the amount of light that was put out and how the sky looked like a sunset instead of 5:00 am in the morning.  The temperature was around 21 degrees but I jumped out of the truck and set up the camera.  I wasn’t sure where to start with this shot, but finally came up with a 45 second exposure that worked.  This is a single exposure from a 5D MKII.  I used a 24-70 lens at F6.3 at 24mm.  I was hoping not to totally blow out the light from the moon on the 1st exposure where I shot for the sky and moon, then I took 3 more shots for the light on the field.  The moon was so bright that the fence rails were casting great shadows.   When you look at the image up close you can also see the small spots of  light  from the frozen dew on the field.   As there was no wind blowing,  I was able to capture some amazing details from the trees in the background and foreground.

Life in the Rocks on Sylamore Creek--Click on photograph for a larger view

Sometimes it’s the little things that catch my eye.  On a day where there was very little water and most of the rapids were dry,  I found this tiny plant starting up in the creek bed.  I liked the way the green of the leaves worked against the red color in the rock in the foreground and the blue color reflected from the sky.  This photograph was taken with Fuji S2 (now long forgotten), hand held with a Nikon 85mm lens at ISO 200.  The final image was developed in Adobe Lightroom.

Cat in the Window--(Click on image for a larger view)

After a pep rally last year in Fayetteville we were walking down towards Dixon Street and a caught a glimpse of this cat looking back at our group through the window.  I was stuck by the rocks and the old weather window frame.  Looking back, I would more than likely take the modern piece of cable out of the shot.  This photograph was taken with a Canon G9 hand held at ISO 200 with the camera at max telephoto.  Photo was captured as a digital raw file and then developed in Lightroom.  For a small point and shoot, the Canon G9 can sometimes surprised me with the results.

Summer storm approaching Pinnacle Mountain--Click on image for a larger view

The summer can offer some really amazing storms that tend to approach from the western edge of Arkansas.  When you can combine a storm such as this one with a sunset you have a very rare moment.  On this day, I had been hiking around the Pinnacle Visitor Center and found the evening sky very beautiful.  There was a slight thunderstorm off in the distance and as I watched the main cloud grew in size from a small single cloud to the large massive cloud shown in this photograph.  There was no wind at the time so I was able to capture the photograph in several different exposures and the combine several of the images to create the final version.  The amazing thing was that after all this build up, it didn’t rain and in fact after the sun had gone down, the large cloud dissipated.

View of Red Rock from Mt. Judea--Click on image for a larger view

Red Rock back in the mid 1980′s was one of hottest spots in Arkansas for climbing.  I went on some trips with climbers  and got to see the face up close.  It is on private land and I am not sure of  the access anymore.  One of the best views of Red Rock is where this photograph was taken, on the the  Hwy that runs through Mt Judea.  This view is slightly east of Mt Judea right before you make the big turn and head down to Bass.  Both Mt Judea and Bass have some very nice photographic opportunities with old structures in abound.  From this same vantage point you can also see the valley of the  Buffalo River and in this photo all the low clouds are actually fog from the river valley.  I have only caught this view with so much fog a couple of times over the years as it makes quite a spectacle.

Richland Creek Summertime--Click on photo for a larger view

I have started to work with more Black and White imagery.  When I first started printing, B&W was the way to go, mainly due to cost.  After many years of working in my parents garage and later on the bathrooms of my various apartments, I switched to Cibachrome and really never went back to Black and White since I love color.   However there is a very fine look to a good Black and White image and I have found that printing one with a modern inkjet printer is considerably more difficult than working with color.  The best solutions are the ones that allow you to only use mainly the black and grey inks in your printer.  I have a long way to go, but it has been a fun process.  This image was created in color, prophoto colorspace and then converted to Black and White with Nik software.  I then used Photoshop to make a true greyscale conversion.

Richland Creek Summertime--Click on image for a larger view

Richland Creek is one of the best hikes in Arkansas.  In one day you can expect to find waterfalls and cascades ranging from a few feet to to over 18 feet tall (on Big Devil’s creek).  This photo was taken directly above the spot where Big Devil’s Creek enters Richland and is where you would be crossing Richland if you were planning on hiking up to Twin Falls.  This level is around 370 CFS and is about as high as I like to cross with camera gear.   If you hike upstream from this spot, you will come to Richland Falls in about 1/4 of a mile.

Sunset in Western Pulaski County--Click on image for a larger view

I love to work both the sunrise and sunset.  It’s a rare event when you can capture a long exposure of the sunset at least in my experience.  I took this photo near Pinnacle State Park as the sun was setting over the two low ridges that are to the west of Pinnacle Mountain.  This image was taken with a Nikon D1x with a 80-400 lens at around 350mm hand held using the VR function.  I have long since switched to Canon for other reasons, but I do miss using the Nikon VR (Vibration Reduction) instead of Canon’s IS (Image Stabilization)  The Nikon VR system just seemed to work better for me.  I used a ND 8x filter on this shot to allow me to capture the sun without blowing out the overall exposure.  This image was taken before the terms HDR and exposure fusion existed.  Taken at time when you only got one chance and had to make it work.   I shot the image with the tree limbs in the photo to help frame the image and choose to have the just slightly out of focus.

Haw Creek Falls Sunset--Click on image for a larger view

Arkansas has way too many waterfalls to count.  There have been many books written about them some seem to be updated every year, yet the number of waterfalls in the state I don’t think has changed.   You can easily get to Haw Creek by taking Hwy 7 north to Pelsor.  Here you will will take Hwy 123 until you come to the road sign that points to the Haw Creek Campground.  If you are planning to spend the night, get an early start.  The campground has less than 15 spaces and they will fill up fast, really anytime of the year.  This photograph was taken right as the sun was setting directly in the center of the image.  It was a hard image to capture due to the harsh light in the sky and the darkly lit waterfall.  I also love to feature the rocky bank whenever I work Haw Creek.  For this image I used a Canon 16-35mm lens with a polarizer.  The image was taken at 16mm at F 12 in a series of 4 exposures.  I wanted to capture the images in a series so I could create an HDR composite as a base to work from.  This level is a great one not too much water but just enough to cover all the rocks on the left side.  Most times I tend to work Haw Creek early in the Morning when the sun is at my back.  This was the first time I tried for a sunset.

Cedar Falls and Redbud--(Click on image for a larger view)`

Cedar Falls offers a lot to the photographer all year round, however in the spring I feel that it’s the best.  There are now only 2 Redbuds below the falls since the rest have been either broken down by hikers or fallen due to recent landslides.  The best one by far is the one featured in this image.  This tree used to be at least 3 times larger but in 2008 several of the lower limbs were broken off.  I can only assume this was done sometime later in the year by an inept photographer who felt that the leaves were in the way of their “shot”.  In 2009 a large landside felled a large tree which ended up on the large flat rock in the foreground of this photo.  I have planned now for a couple of years to try and trim it but have not made it yet.  I had hoped that some high water would pull it on down stream.