01/30/16 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–December sunset from the summit of Mt. Magazine

Sunset from the summit of Mt Magazine looking towards Havana Arkansas

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Taken with a Fuji X-T1 and Fujion 16-55 lens, in 2 landscape segments and converted into a panorama in Photoshop

In December I was able to take sometime off and spend the Christmas weekend at Mt Magazine Lodge.  The weather I had hoped for was snow but instead the daytime temperature was in the high 60’s, (and they say we don’t have global warming going on!!), but at least it did not rain while were there.  The days in December are quite short but I was able to get some wonderful sunrise and sunset shots from below the lodge.

In the summer months, the sun will set behind the main part of Mt. Magazine, so the best time to grab a sunset shot is in December and January.  During these months the sun will just barely be visible on the far right side of the shot.  However to capture both the famous trees below the lodge, you will need to work your shot into a panorama.  There are many ways to do this, but on this evening, I went with the fastest method, which was to just take two horizontal shots and then merge them back into one final image later one.  This is usually an easy process, but on this evening, there was a lot of wind blowing so I had to bracket not only for the light but to stop the trees blowing on either side of the shot.

There are many great spots to capture the view from the summit of Mt Magazine, but this has to be the most famous as it features the Bonsai Juniper tree that is used in all the literature from Mt. Magazine and is the emblem used by Mt Magazine State Park.  I have never been to Mt Magazine when the large cedar tree on the right side of the shot was alive, but standing as it does bare against the sky makes for an interesting shot.  In the valley below you will see Blue Mt. Lake and the town of Havana.  The two peaks off in the distance are both about 1,500 feet tall, and the one of the left is Blue Mountain.  You can easily see the boundary of the state park, as it’s where the pine trees begin, as all of the hillsides below the state park have been cut.

The clouds this day were most impressive starting out with a nice band just above Blue Mountain and then a large group formed just around the sun which made for an even better view.