Mt. Magazine morning Vista–12/14/14 Featured Arkansas Photography

Morning Vista from Mt. Magazine

Taken with a Phase One IQ260 & Rodenstock 28mm HR lens, with an Arca rm3di, image created by combining 2 nodal pans. Mt. Magazine, which is the highest spot in Arkansas at around 2700 feet, has some wonderful views.  One of the best is from from rock ledge below the Lodge where you have a wonderful view of the Blue Mountain, and Blue Mountain Lake off in the distance.  This view is looking southwest, and shows the fall colors at peak or near peak.  The deciduous trees in the area include, Maples, Hickory and various Oaks.  You can also see the effect of the massive amount of forestry cutting in the lower valley which is beyond the boundary of the State Park where all the trees are now pines.  These are not the natural pine to Arkansas, the short leaf, but instead Loblolly and or Slash pines, both of which were planted after the clear cuts were made.  All of the lower foothills of Mt. Magazine are covered in this type of tree.

This is a hard shot to get in one frame with a 4:3 ratio camera like the IQ260 Medium Format back, so I worked in a series of pans, where I set the 28mm Rodenstock at a spot on my tripod that was close to the nodal point for the lens.  This allowed me to pan across the scene and then combine the images into one larger frame later on.  On this day, the sky was a radiant blue with some very high cirrus clouds that were rolling in from the west.  With a tech camera like the Arca rm3di, and the Rodenstock 28mm lens, this type of shot is a bit more difficult since you have to correct for the color cast the lens creates.  I used the Rodenstock Center filter on the lens and a linear polarizer to enhance both the blue in the sky and fall colors, as the sun was over my left shoulder and provided perfect conditions for polarization.

This is popular spot on the weekends, but during the week, most times you will not find anyone around so plan your trips accordingly.  Make sure you take enough time to drive around the entire summit of Mt. Magazine as there are many great vantage points for photography.