03/10/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunset from Flatside Pinnacle

Sunset from Flatside Pinnacle in the Eastern Ouachita Mountains

Taken with a Canon 1ds mkII, Canon 70-300 lens, F11, iso 200, Composite shot taken as a manual exposure bracket. If you get a chance to visit this area you won’t be disappointed by what you find.  Flatside is the 3rd in a series of pinnacles that I consider to be the gateway to the Ouachita mountains.  In Pulaski County, you have Pinnacle Mountain, then just a bit east from Flatside, there is Northside Pinnacle.  These are followed in turn by Flatside and then Forked Mountain.  Forked mountain can easily be seen in the distance from the summit of Flatside.  Forked Mt. is a considerably harder climb than Flatside but the view from it’s summit is worth the hike.   I like to shoot to the west from the summit of Flatside after the sun has dropped below the horizon as you then can pick up the rolling hills out towards the west.  I worked this shot up from 5 separate exposures in a classic exposure bracketed series, which was required back when I was shooting with the Canon 1ds series of cameras, now with Nikon’s newer cameras like the D800, I should be able to get the same shot with 2 or 3 frames max due to the extra dynamic range of the Nikon sensors.  The trail runs up the back of Flatside mountain and right now there are several large trees down that make the hike take a bit longer.  The trail is an easy 1/4 hike from where you park your car.