08/09/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Swirls in foam on the Cossatot River

swirls in foam on the Cossatot River
Swirls in foam on the Cossatot River

Swirls in foam on the Cossatot River in Southwestern Arkansas

Taken with a Canon 1ds-MKII, Canon 24-70 lens, 24mm, F9 for 1/125 of a sec, iso 100.  The Cossatot River has a wide range of photographic subject matter.  When the water is running high you can make a trip down to catch the kayakers running Cossatot Falls, and when the water gets lower, you can look for unique spots along the riverbank to work.  Most of the rock along the river is sandstone and tends to have a reddish hue in most places.  The best place to catch the kayakers is at Cossatot Falls.  Here you can perch on one of the rocks for the best view.  The falls consist of 6 separate drops and each has a unique name.  The most famous drop is the “washing machine” which tends to get the most attention.   The only problem with the Cossatot is the fact that it’s about a 3 hour drive from Little Rock so a trip there makes for a rather long day.

Swirls in foam has been printed on both canvas and Canon Platine rag.  It makes an excellent print and can be displayed in both the horizontal and vertical orientation.

07/25/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–6 Finger Falls on Falling Water Creek

Six Finger Falls on Falling Water Creek

Six Finger Falls on Falling Water Creek

Taken with a Phase One P45+, Mamiya 35mm F3.5 lens @F14 iso 50 for approximately 1 second.  Falling Water Creek is one of the many jewels of Arkansas.  This particular spot is one of the more popular spots on the creek.  Here you find a ledge that runs all the way across the creek and is broken in 6 spots, thus the name 6 finger falls.  The total height is about 10 feet and it’s a very unique spot on the creek.  The rocks in the foreground on this shot were all washed away in a recent flood and now there is only a sandbar.  The creek above the falls has a long flat bedrock bottom is a nice spot to wade.  If you want to photograph 6 finger falls, I would recommend you plan on being there in the morning in the afternoon, the sun will be shinning in your face.  Of course if it’s a day like this one, overcast, it won’t matter.  This area is about 2 hours away from Little Rock.

 

07/19/13 Featured Photography–Man and Bear footprints in Alaska

Man and bear in Alaska

Man and bear in Alaska–Click on image for a larger view

Taken with a Canon Digital Point and shoot in 2000.  This photo was taken in Alaska near Lake Lliamna.  I was on a one week fishing trip where we were shuttled out to different fishing spots each day.  Even though the main focus of the trip was fishing, one of my main focuses was photography.  I was using a 8mp Canon point and shoot that looked like the older Canon film Elf cameras.  I also had a Nikon D1 along which was my first 35mm digital camera.  During the day when I was fishing, I tended to only carry the much smaller Canon camera along.  This way back in the ay and I may be wrong on the overall megapixel size, as it may have only be 4mp or 6mp.  However it still had a LCD screen for checking the files and it did a very good job overall.  Back in 2000 the best possible iso rang would have been around iso 400 and I took this shot in the iso 20o range.

After fishing all morning I was walking back to the plane and following my footsteps out to the river from earlier that morning.  About half way back, I found that a large bear had come into the river and then tracked back out along my route.  It was pretty impressive to see my size 10.5 shot print (these were actually size 11 wading boots) next to the front and rear paw prints from a full grown brown bear.  Needles to say I made the rest of the trip back in double time.  I realize this is not a Arkansas shot, but it’s still one of my more favorite shots from the trip to Alaska.

You can read more about Lake Lliamna here:

07/06/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Winter vista of Sam’s Throne

Sam's Throne wintertime vista
Winter vista of Sam's Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks

Winter vista of Sam’s Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks

Taken with a Canon 1ds MKIII, Pentax 35mm FA lens, Zork adapter,  iso 100, F11.  Sam’s Throne is one of the more iconic spots in the Arkansas Ozarks.  It’s geology is also a bit unique in that most of the exposed rocks are sandstone.  Sam’s Throne is the large hilltop in the left of the frame.   There is a long exposed Bluff line that runs for about 1.5 miles opposite Sam’s and this bluff line is one of the premier climbing spots in Arkansas.  I like to work Sam’s throughout the entire year, but this wintertime shot was a rare opportunity.  Arkansas had a major snow event the night before and as I got to Sam’s the clouds were just starting to clear.  I was blessed with a bright blue sky poking through the clouds and a great coating of snow on everything.  It would have been great to be there early in the morning when the trees were still lined with snow.  I took this shot in a series 3 vertical segments with a Zork adapter and a Pentax 35mm FA lens and then I stitched the images together.  You can get to Sam’s by traveling north on Arkansas Hwy 7 to the Junction with Hwy 123.  Stay on Hwy 123 for about 12 miles, the turn off for Sam’s Throne will be on the left.

06/14/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Fall scene at Gunner Pool Dam

Fall scene at the Gunner Pool Dam--Gunner Pool Campground

Fall scene at the Gunner Pool Dam–Gunner Pool Campground

Taken with a Canon 1ds MKII, iso 100, Canon 24-70 lens @24mm F8, for approximately 3 seconds. Gunner Pool campground is one of the scenic gems tucked away in the middle of the Arkansas Ozark mountains.  This photograph was taken in 2008 in the middle of a wonderfull fall photographic season.  The night before it had rained and the small creek that creates gunner pool was starting to run over the top of the dam.  Many people feel that gunner pool is in Sylamore Creek, which is right next to this spot, however pool that the campground is named for is the one created by the dam.  Sylamore creek is a wonderful spot to camp, and has one of the best campgrounds in Arkansas.  It’s always pretty crowded so if you are planning a trip up there in the summer, plan on getting there early and on a weekday if at all possible.   The lower 5 campsites at gunner pool are along Sylamore creek and they the best ones.  There is also a great swimming spot in Sylamore creek which is bordered by a nice bluff.

06/10/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Springtime at Cedar Falls on Petit Jean Mountain

Cedar Falls on Petit Jean Mountain
Springtime at Cedar Falls on Petit Jean Mountain

Springtime at Cedar Falls on Petit Jean Mountain–Click on image for a larger view

Taken with a Phase One P45+, Mamiya 35mm F3.5 Lens at F14, iso 50, Exposure for approx 1.5 seconds.  Here are my print prices if you would like to  purchase a print of this photograph  My website features many photographs of Cedar Falls on Petit Jean.  Petit Jean is about a 40 minute drive from Little Rock and is one of the largest State Parks in Arkansas.  It’s not a well known fact that before Hot Springs National Park was created, there was serious consideration to make Petit Jean a National Park instead.  Cedar Falls is one of the highest “real” waterfalls in Arkansas.  There are many other spots where water will run over a bluff during a heavy rain and create a temporary waterfall, but not many of them flow year round.   You can hike down to the base of Cedar Falls from a trail that starts up at the back of Mather Lodge.  The trail itself passes many very pretty spots that may warrant a quick stop.  This photograph was taken at the peak of spring when the single red bud at the base of the falls is in full bloom.   One of the features of Cedar Falls is that there is almost always someone standing around the base of the falls and they tend to be in the way of a good photograph.  On this day, I was lucky enough to have the falls to myself for almost 2 hours and that was plenty of time to capture some great images.  This photograph was taken with a Phase One P45+ Medium format digital back and a Mamiya 645 camera.

05/08/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Cossatot Falls State Park near Mena Arkansas

Cossatot Falls on the Cossatot River in Southwestern Arkansas
Cossatot Falls viewed from BMF rapid on the Cossatot River in Southwestern Arkansas

Cossatot Falls viewed from BMF rapid on the Cossatot River in Southwestern Arkansas–click on image for a larger view

Taken with a Canon 1ds-MKII, Zork adapter, 35mm Pentax FA lens, F11, iso 100 for approximately 1 second. The Cossatot River is one of the great scenic spots in the southwestern corner of Arkansas.  The Cossatot runs due south and eventually creates Lake Greason.  From there is continues to run into Millwood lake, one of the largest impoundments in the southwestern part of the state.  This photograph was taken much further upstream in the area known as the six falls.  Cossatot Falls is unique to Arkansas rivers as here you will find 6 distinctly different rapids that have cut through the sandstone ridges in different places.  Each spot has a unique name, BMF, and the Washing Machine are two of the most famous.  This photography is looking back upstream from BMF and features 3 of the falls.  I took this shot with a Canon digital camera, with a Zork adapter that allows you to to 3 separate portrait frames as stitches.  I then will combine the 3 frames into 1 landscape image.  You gain a tremendous amount of resolution by shooting in this format.

04/21/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunrise over Bee Bluff on the Buffalo River

Sunrise over Bee Bluff on the Buffalo River
Sunrise over Bee Bluff on the Buffalo River

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 @ 24mm, Image is a composite of several different exposures. There are times that I will remember more than others on the Buffalo River.  This photograph is one of those days as I had a great landscape opportunity on this morning.  While everyone else was out chasing the Elk, (which are a bit on the tame side) I found this scene near Roark and Bee bluffs.  The trees around this area vary from Maple, Sweet Gum and various Oaks.  Most often in the fall in Arkansas the various trees tend to change colors independently and don’t come together to give a great color display.  This spot near Steel Creek landing features two of the most prominent bluffs on the upper river and in the fall you can sometimes catch early sunrise shots like this one.  There was no wind and just a bit of light fog was rolling across the tops of the trees below the bluff.  I was able to shoot this scene only by using several different exposures to catch the bright sun and deep shadows in the foreground.   I am now finding that with a Nikon D800 many times scenes like this can be taken with just one exposure due to the extreme dynamic range of the sensor of the D800.

 

 

 

04/12/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Midday autumn calm along the Buffalo River

Autumn midday view of sweet gums and maples on the Buffalo River
Autumn midday view of sweet gums and maples on the Buffalo River

Autumn midday view of sweet gums and maples on the Buffalo River

Taken with a Nikon D800e, Nion 24mm 1.4 lens @ F7.1  1/250 of a sec shutter speed, iso 200.  On this day, the conditions were constantly changing.  I had been up on top of Roark Bluff most of the morning, but a large mass of clouds rolled in and pretty much shut things down for the morning.  I had gone back to my truck and I was figuring out where to head next when the clouds started to part.  The blue sky came out and within 20 minutes all of the clouds were gone!  I prefer to have some clouds in the sky when working with large masses of blue since the clouds will help break up the sky and allow for the use of a polarizer on a wide angle lens.  If I had just been shooting a solid blue sky, even at 24mm,  due to the angle of the sun I would of had the classic dark to light polarized effect that wide angle lenses can create.  However on a day like this with muted sunlight, you really want to have a polarizer on since it will make the colors in the leaves really stand out.  The polarizer also defeated any refection I was going to get on this shot but I felt it was a fair trade off.

 

03/31/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunrise over Bee Bluff on the Buffalo River in Arkansas

Sunrise over Bee Bluff in along the Buffalo River in Arkansas
Sunrise over Bee Bluff in along the Buffalo River in Arkansas

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

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, Canon 16-35mm Lens, 3 exposure raw bracket converted in LR to final image.  When you consider the Buffalo River, one the most beautiful times to photograph is fall.  The last couple of years, the fall along the Buffalo has been lacking in overall color.  There were spots that contained excellent color but for the most part especially along the ridge tops, most of the trees just turned brown.  This spot which is featuring two of the most famous river bluffs, Roark and Bee bluffs, has a great line of gum and maple trees at the base of the bluff.  On this day, I was there early hoping for a valley full of fog, instead I only found a slight amount in the immediate trees, but with the rising sun and dramatic clouds that were present it still made for a great shot.

Copyright © Paul Caldwell, Photos of Arkansas