03/31/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunrise over Bee Bluff on the Buffalo River in Arkansas

Sunrise over Bee Bluff in along the Buffalo River in Arkansas–Click on image for a larger view

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, Canon 16-35mm Lens, 3 exposure raw bracket converted in LR to final image. When you consider the Buffalo River, one the most beautiful times to photograph is fall. The last couple of years, the fall along the Buffalo has been lacking in overall color. There were spots that contained excellent color but for the most part especially along the ridge tops, most of the trees just turned brown. This spot which is featuring two of the most famous river bluffs, Roark and Bee bluffs, has a great line of gum and maple trees at the base of the bluff. On this day, I was there early hoping for a valley full of fog, instead I only found a slight amount in the immediate trees, but with the rising sun and dramatic clouds that were present it still made for a great shot.

03/26/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunset over Sam’s Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks

Sunset over Sam’s Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks

Taken with a Phase One IQ-180, Schneider 43 Super Digitar lens, F11, iso 100, exposure time 1/30 sec. This was a strange day, as the wind was blowing about 20 to 30 mph and just standing around trying to take the picture was a bit dangerous. Sam’s Throne is a great place to spend a day and or night as there is now a informal maintained campground. Sam’s Throne is the single large hill out in the distance but the entire valley has some wonderful views. I like to try and catch a sunset there working to catch the sun illuminating the throne in the background. This area is frequented by climbers so be prepared to watch some interesting activity on the rocks. The rocks are mainly sandstone and will take on a deep orange yellow color with the sun shining on them. The valley is surrounded by oaks and hickory trees which tend to have great display of fall color.

03/15/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Night skies over Roark Bluff on the Buffalo River

Night skies over Roark Bluff on the Buffalo River January 2013

Taken with a Nikon D800e, Nikon 14-24 Lens @ 14mm, F4.5, iso 400, total exposure time approximately 40 minutes. This shot was taken back in January, but it was a great night to be out shooting the stars. The temperature was around 29 degrees and there was virtually no wind. We started shooting at dark and by about 1 hour into the night we were getting excellent runs. This shot is a composite of 40 minutes taken in 2 1/2 minute exposures at iso 400. I will then stack the exposures to catch the motion and create the trails. The blue sky is due to the moon. If you work with the moon at night you will be pleasantly surprised by the results. It will give a nice blue hue to the sky and also provide all the illumination to the bluff that you see in this photograph. This is not a daylight/nighttime exposure as many people think. This is all done at night with the aid of the moon. As was looking up, it makes the perspective of the trees a bit more interesting, as if they are looking into the photo. I am going to start working at night with a Canon 24mm TS-E for perspective control where it will give me a good enough FOV, which on this shot I needed all of the 14mm I could get. You are looking to feature the sky, but you still want to get as much of the foreground as possible.