09/27/16 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–Late afternoon at Roark Bluff Buffalo River

Late afternoon light creeping along Roark Bluff on the Buffalo National River

Taken with an Phase One IQ100 @ 35mm LS lens, ISO 50 and circular polarizer for both sky and cutting glare on leaves.

This is the time I like to start working the Buffalo River, as fall is just around the corner, and as can be seen in this shot, is actually started on the Buffalo.

The Buffalo River at Roark Bluff is one of my favorite spots to photograph and I work it as often as I can, but the drive up and back has started to slow me down.  I was hoping for a few clouds to help break up the sky and there were there, but only towards the far side.  The sun was playing hide and seek most of the afternoon, and when the sun finally came out the wind started to blow ruining the reflection.  There are a lot of spots on the Buffalo to catch a reflection but this is my favorite.

This was taken in one exposure, something I never could have done before with a Phase One CCD back, the 100MP CMOS chip does have some excellent range.  This type of shot is one of the most difficult as you are working directly at the brightest part of the subject.  This means that anything not illuminated by the sun (in this case the left side of the river) will be in deep shade.  You want enough exposure to be able to pull this area up some and not leave it black, but you also have to be very care not to blow out the sky, especially the left side.  The use of a polarizer was needed more for the glare on the leaves to the right.  Without it the colors would not have been as nice and clean, you have to be careful when working such a scene to see that you keep the polarized effect as even as possible on your sky, so you may need to try a few exposures.

After waiting for almost an hour, the sun popped back from behind the clouds and the wind died down long enough for this shot.