09/25/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–A quick preview of things to come, Fall scene on the Buffalo River sunrise over Bee Bluff

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

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, Canon 24-70 lens @ F8 24mm, iso 200, bracketed exposures for final image.  The Buffalo River has to hold some of the best photographic opportunities in Arkansas, especially in the fall.  This shot was taken in 2011 but it’s a great example of what you can expect on the Buffalo.  Here you will find almost every tree species that the state has and each one will have a unique fall color, along with the short leaf pines.  In this shot you can see a row of sweet gums and maples along the lower part of the bluff and in the background on Bee bluff the oak and hickory trees are making their presence noted also.  Fall in Arkansas can be glorious and on the Buffalo tends to peak sometime around mid October.  I feel that this year since we have had such a long dry spell that the colors may not be as bold as normal and fall may come a bit earlier than normal.  So far no major storms are forecast for Arkansas this fall and the northwest portion of the state is very dry.  I was up in this area last week and there were already a few trees starting to turn a bit early.  I am hoping that this year will not be repeat of last and the year before where each tree species seemed to turn by itself and there was never a great display of fall color.  I was lucky in this shot to catch the last of the morning fog lifting off the ground and still showing up in the maples and gums.  I took this shot as a bracketed exposure since I wanted to be able to catch all the light in the sky and not have too much noise in the trees along the bluff.