Richland Creek in Autumn–12/18/14 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography
Taken with a Phase One IQ160, Rodenstock 28mm HR lens, F11 for approximately 1 second, iso 50. Richland Creek, which runs from Newton County to the Buffalo River near Woolum Ford, has some of the most beautiful photographic subject matter in Arkansas, if you love creeks. Here you can find huge rocks that have ended up in the creek that had to have originated up much higher on the bluffs. Some of these rocks are the size of a small house and most are the size of a car. Richland creek has several sections that run over flat bedrock and this spot is one of them. This spot is about 100 yards long and starts out directly below Shaw’s Folly Rapid. The foliage on the left back, which is featured in this shot, is full of oaks, maples and hickory trees which on this day were all in full color. There was just enough water in the creek to allow for a movement shot. Normally, I like to have bright sunny days to work Richland, but on this day which was overcast I was able to get one of my best shots of the creek. Using tilt, I have gained quite a bit in overall depth of field so I was able to keep the details of the large rock on the left foreground in focus along with the trees in the background. This was a magic day for sure.
01/24/14 Featured Arkansas Photography–Wintertime on Richland Creek featuring Shaw’s Folly Rapid
Taken in 2007 with a Canon 1ds MKII, Zork Adapter with Mamiya 35mm lens, F11, ISO 100, for 1.5 seconds. Richland creek is one of the most scenic spots in Arkansas, offering hiking, kayaking, and camping opportunities. The creek is one of the major tributaries of the Buffalo National River and has good flow most of the year. By far the best parts of the creek to hike are the upper reaches. Here you have have approximately 6 miles of creek and about 5 miles are just studded with great photographic opportunities. If you work the creek in the wintertime be aware that the water temperature will be around 41 to 45 degrees F. Dress warmly and look for safe places to cross. Richland has a strong flow throughout and it will fool you quickly on a crossing. During the winter you can often find great ice formations either in the creek or along the bank and many of the waterfalls that come along the creek will be frozen. It’s an easy place to look for a unique photographic study, just find one of the spots like the one in the photograph and setup. Richland is loaded with spots where house sized rocks have fallen off the surrounding bluffs or have been moved downstream during epic flooding. Enjoy!
11/20/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Arkansas nighttime photography
Nighttime photography has become one of my greatest passions in the last 4 years. I have expanded into all types of varieties but still tend to mainly work with traditional landscape settings. Within the state of Arkansas there are so many different subjects that I have interest in working with. These range from scenes along the Buffalo River to views of the Little Rock skyline. Within all of these shots I tend to tie in working with the moon for illumination since it provides such a amazing amount of light when used in the correct proportions. I have listed some examples of what can be accomplished in a this gallery.
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Here is some information behind each image in the gallery.
- Nighttime view from the Lodge on Mt. Magazine. This is a single exposure taken with a Nikon D800e for approximately 15 seconds with a 14-24 zoom lens at iso 200. In this shot was was trying to capture the full effect of the rising moon but not allow the moonlight to totally blow out the surround stars. In the right hand portion of the night sky you can make out Orion. The moonlight provides a wonderful blue hue to the night sky and eliminates all the of yellow color which is generated by local light pollution. I had to take a few extra shots of the lodge since the interior lights were blown out by the original 15 second shot.
- Big Dipper over Roark Bluff on the Buffalo River. Using a Canon 5D MKII and a 15mm fisheye lens, I was able to capture this shot in a single exposure. The big dipper is directly over the middle of the bluff and is pointed almost straight up. Over the course of one night the Big dipper will rotate around the north star and eventually will rotate below the bluff. All of the light on the bluff was provided by the moon which was about 3/4’s full.
- Ghost walkers at Sam’s Throne. Taken with a Canon 1D MKIV and 15mm fish-eye lens. On this shot I used the fish-eye lens to accentuate the effect of the pine trees on both sides of the road, in effect framing the shot. Some campers had built a large bonfire nearby and it provided an excellent source of local lighting. During the exposure of the shot, I had some people walk by with head lamps on which just added to the overall effect of the shot. This was a single exposure for about 30 minutes and I was lucky to have the fire burn overexposure on the shot. The moon was still barely out when this shot was taken and gave the excellent dark blue color to the sky.
- Midnight at Sam’s Throne and moonset. Taken with a Canon 5D MMKII, 15mm fish-eye lens at iso 2000 for approximately 20 seconds. This shot is one of my all time favorites. The night was very calm and thus all the trees were not blurred by the wind. I was able to place the moon in the small pine tree to the right of center of the shot which kept it from overexposing the shot. The moon provided an excellent amount of light to both the rocks in the foreground and the bluff line in the distance, not to mention on Sam’s Throne itself. This was taken as a single exposure. There was considerable noise in the sky, but by using Lightroom to develop the shot I was able to get a very clean final image.
- Lightening Strike over Pinnacle Mountain. Taken with a Canon 5D MKII and 24-70 lens. For this shot I was forced to move to the shelter of my car since the air was filled with static electricity. I placed the camera outside the car on my tripod and then triggered the shot with a remote release. I took several shots that night close to 20, but only got this one which captured the blot of lightening directly over the top of Pinnacle mountain. This is an example of just how much luck is involved in capturing just the right shot.
- Star trails over Roark Bluff on the Buffalo River. Traditional nighttime shot allowing the earth rotation to create star trails. I kept the shutter open for a full 45 minutes and then had to wait another 45 minutes for the camera to write a dark frame. The resulting image was one of the best night shots I ever captured up on the Buffalo River. This night was dead calm and the sky was totally clear of clouds with the temperature around 42 degrees. Just perfect conditions for nighttime photography.