Photos of Arkansas

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.

Late Autumn afternoon on Richland Creek--Click on photograph for a larger view

Late afternoons on Richland Creek can often provide some of the best light to work with.  The sun will most times be on the left side and so you tend to get a bright/dark situation.  This photograph was taken with a Canon 1ds MKI with a Canon 24mm TS-E lens at ISO 100 with a aperture of around F16. .   I took this as one exposure and used the tilt feature of the lens to help bring the foreground rocks into better focus.  I also used a CL-PL filter on the lens to cut the glare and to enhance the colors of the fall trees.  The use of the tilt swing lens in landscape work is often very important to getting the entire subject into good focus, however not as critical on a wide angle since you can work with your depth of field also.   Cross your fingers that we get some rains soon that will bring up Richland and some of the other great creeks in the state to levels that will produce great photographs.  Right now Richland is too low but the pump is primed and all we need are a few good local rains.

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.

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.