Photos of Arkansas

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.

Forest Road 1205 under construction

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 Pelsor since I was planning to drive along Falling Water Creek Road, which joins Forest service Road 1205 and used to run all the way to Richland Campground.  Hwy 7 has one trouble spot, that has the potential to get worse.  On the first long climb after leaving Dover, there is a spot on the highway that always seems to have slumping problems after heavy rain.  The bad spot has dropped about 12 inches currently and the Highway dept. is patching it currently.  I don’t know if they will be able to fix it without a major redo on the downhill side, similar to what was done on Hwy 7 directly south of Pelsor, where the road was a single lane for almost 6 months after the heavy rainfall in 2008. The rest of Hwy 7 is in great shape.

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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.

The Glory Hole, Newton County (Click on photo for a larger view)

Every state probably has a “Glory Hole”, and the one for Arkansas is in Newton County.  The hole itself is quite small from the top and if you don’t know that the actual waterfall is there, you might walk right by it.  The waterfall empties into a overhang  and if you catch the time of day just right you can catch the blue sky reflected at the top of the waterfall.  You can best reach the Glory hole after about a 1 mile hike.  Take Hwy 16 out of Fallsville and look for a red barn with the letter E on it.  The pull off is just past the barn.

Wintertime at Eden Falls (Click on image for a larger view)

Eden Falls is the highest waterfall in Lost Valley and if you add all the segments together, it might rival Hemmed in Hollow in total height.  This view is of the lower falls which are by far the most common view that is photographed.  I took this shot in the dead of winter and on this particular day, the water was barely running and what water there was was adding to the large ice formations.  If you are planning a trip to Lost Valley, try to visit during the week as the crowds on the weekend can number over 300 people a day or more.  Remember also that Eden Falls is in the very back of Lost Valley and most of the time the lower falls are in shade.  This shot was taken in the late afternoon  just as the sun was setting.

Ice Formation in Lost Valley (click on photo for a larger view)

When the weather gets really cold, you can count on scenes like this in the local creeks.  The temperature this day was around 10 degrees,  and the water was still freezing as it came off the ice.  What tends to happen is these features will continue to grow until they get so heavy that they break off due to their own weight.  There was plenty of sunlight on this day, so I made sure to use the sun to help add some luster to the ice.   Ice tends to be one of the harder subjects to photograph without blowing out the highlights and keeping a true white balance can be tough.

Sam't Throne Wintertime View (Click on image for a larger view)

There were no climbers on this day.  However most times you visit Sam’s Throne you can expect to find several groups of climbers.  This is one of the great vista spots in Arkansas.  From the far side you can see all the way to the valley of Vendor and just past that is the Buffalo river.  Sam’s Throne from what I can tell is almost all sandstone which is not as common in the Ozarks.  The bluff line runs for at least 1 mile maybe longer and all  along the top you can get views such as this one.  This photo was taken in 2008 after the big snow storm that hit the northern part of Arkansas in March.  There was drifted snow as high as 22 inches along the trail down to Sam’s.  The actual throne is the smaller hilltop on the left.

Snowy Day on Pinnacle Mtn (Click on image for a larger view)

This photograph was taken about half way up the “nose” on the west face of Pinnacle Mountain.  The snow on the upper half of the mountain this day was approaching 5 to 6 inches in places.  I was able to get all the way to the summit but found the going to be tougher than I thought!   The snow was covering a layer of ice and I found it very hard to make good forward progress without sliding back down.  The nose which is a long exposed series of slabs of rock is one of the most striking features of Pinnacle and for a long time was part of the trail to the summit.  The route now works through the trees towards the upper left of the photo.  On my descent, I chose not to come down via the nose since one slip could have been fatal that day.

Jigsaw Blocks in Lost Valley (Click on photo for a larger view)

Lost Valley has always been a special place for me.  I have been going up there since 1969 and can still remember the days when the logging trucks were still working the far end.  Most people don’t realize it but the main set of trails were built on the existing logging roads that led almost all the way to the back of the canyon.  You can now barely tell that most the trails were old road beds.  Lost Valley is place that is constantly changing and seems to present these changes in more dramatic fashion.  Jigsaw blocks formation is an example of this  where an entire side of the bluff fell off in pieces that landed on top of each other.  To catch the valley with snow on the ground is always an extra pleasure.