08/22/16 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–The washing machine on the Cossatot River Southwest Arkansas
Taken with a Canon 5D MKII and 24mm TS-E lens, with a CL-PL and ND 0.9 filter installed, exposure time approximately 1.5 seconds.
You can find some excellent photographic opportunities on the Cossatot River, along with some of the best Arkansas whitewater. Go down there anytime the river is running over 500 cfs (cubic feet per second) and you can expect to see a lot of kayakers running the falls.
I like to hike the 6 falls when there is about 100 to 400 cfs max running the river. This allows you to make easy crossings and you can still get down close enough to the river to get some great angles. The river will run muddy right after a rain storm due to the massive amount of timber clear cutting in the area, so plan on heading down a day or so after a big rain.
You can easily hike down the entire left side (left side facing downstream) and there are 6 separate ledges which the river cuts through. Each has a unique rapid and name:
Cossatosser, Eyeopener, BMF, The Washing Machine, Whiplash, and Shoulder bone.
If you make it down there, remember that the sun will move across the river from left to right so the some of the best photograph will be early in the morning. The falls run due south. There are a ton of huge rocks that line the river and each of them will allow you a spot to setup for some great photos. The washing machine, featured in this photo has some of the best angles up on top of the ledge, but you need to cross over right above this small rapid. If the river is running too high, this can easily become a hazard so be careful. All the rocks are covered with slim moss and will be slick.
The rock is sandstone or something close and in the sun will take on a wonderful red-orange hue so try to make it on nice sunny day.
12/24/15 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–Patterns in the Rock on the Cossatot
Taken with a Canon 1ds MKII, and 100mm Macro lens, ISO 200.
The Cossatot River has some of the most unique rock formations in Arkansas. They are sandstone mixed with Quartz veins. The rocks tend to work their way across the river in rows and ledges and the river creates small channels through the rocks. The most famous of these would be Cossatot Falls, where there are 6 separate ledges going across the river.
I love to work the Cossatot, both in normal wide landscape shots but also like to spend time looking for macro shots. There are hundreds of spots like the one in this photograph, where the river has cut down the main ledge, and smoothed it over like sandpaper was used. Many of these will contain small depressions, that will catch rainwater.
This photograph was taken late in the fall season after a rain. The leaves were captured in the rock and the puddle just added to the scene for me. The smallish quartz veins that were running through the rock added some nice contrast. The rock in the Cossatot can appear pink when the sun is hitting it directly but there are some nice grey ones also to make for a colorful composition. In this photograph, you can see a bit of the pink showing up in the lower left corner.
The Cossatot is a long 3 hour drive from Little Rock but the area is remote so you can often find yourself working the falls all by yourself. If you are heading down that way, also consider the Little Missouri River, near Langley Arkansas. The Cossatot is in the southwest corner of Arkansas in the Ouachita mountains.
08/23/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Rocks and Leaves on the Cossatot River
Taken with a Canon 1ds MKII, iso 200, Canon 24-70 Lens @70mm, 1/60th of a second. The Cossatot River is one of my favorite spots to hike. You have all sorts of photographic subject matter to work with. The Cossatot River is in the southwestern corner of Arkansas Ouachita Mountains. You can find some of the best photography in the area known as the 6 falls or Cossatot Falls. Here the river turns due south and drops over 6 separate ledges, each of which have unique rapids and names. The rocks around Cossatot Falls are sandstone and have been worn totally smooth by the action of the water. You can find all types of interesting formations, such as the one in the photograph above where lines of quartz are running through the rocks.
08/09/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Swirls in foam on the Cossatot River
Taken with a Canon 1ds-MKII, Canon 24-70 lens, 24mm, F9 for 1/125 of a sec, iso 100. The Cossatot River has a wide range of photographic subject matter. When the water is running high you can make a trip down to catch the kayakers running Cossatot Falls, and when the water gets lower, you can look for unique spots along the riverbank to work. Most of the rock along the river is sandstone and tends to have a reddish hue in most places. The best place to catch the kayakers is at Cossatot Falls. Here you can perch on one of the rocks for the best view. The falls consist of 6 separate drops and each has a unique name. The most famous drop is the “washing machine” which tends to get the most attention. The only problem with the Cossatot is the fact that it’s about a 3 hour drive from Little Rock so a trip there makes for a rather long day.
Swirls in foam has been printed on both canvas and Canon Platine rag. It makes an excellent print and can be displayed in both the horizontal and vertical orientation.
08/13/12 Featured Arkansas Photography–Fall Scene on the Cossatot River
Taken with a Canon 1ds MKII, Canon 24-70 lens @ 70mm and F 14, iso 100, Shutter speed 1/160 of a sec. With the fall season just about here, actually in many places it’s already here in Arkansas as a lot of the trees have turned brown due to the excessive drought. This shot was taken during one of my many hikes along the Cossatot River in the southwestern Ouachita mountains. The Cossatot is a great stream, just takes a while to get there from Little Rock. When the levels are right, the Cossatot is one of the best kayaking spots in Arkansas. The area known as Cossatot Falls is the real mecca. Here you can find 6 distinct rapids each of which has a unique name. Along the banks of the Cossatot you can find wonderful displays of maples, oaks, and gum trees. I found this shot on my hike back out as the sun was starting to set and I was able to position the sun so that it back lit the leaf just the way I wanted. I used a polarizer to help block out unnecessary reflections and to give the sky a deeper blue hue. Fall is definitely one my favorite times to photograph Arkansas.