10/06/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunset from Cameron Bluff on Mt. Magazine

Sunset over Cameron Bluff on Mt. Magazine

Wintertime sunset over Cameron Bluff on Mt. Magazine–Click on image for a larger view

Taken with a Nikon D800e, Nikkor 14-24 lens at 14mm F11, iso 100, for approximately 1/250th of a second.  Mt. Magazine at 2,700 feet is the tallest spot in Arkansas, and what is so interesting is that it’s south of the Arkansas River, and much closer to the Ouachita Mountains than the rest of the Ozarks.  I like to work around on Magazine as there are several great spots to get sunsets and sunrises.  I am hoping to get back to this spot soon with the fall colors soon approaching, and since the Buffalo National River is still closed due to the ignorance in Washington, Magazine may be a haven since it’s a state park not Federal.  I still find it sad that the ignorance of a few hundred congressmen and senators has closed all the National Parks and similar areas down.  Back to the photo, it was a single shot from a Nikon D800e and I exposed for highlights, then pulled up the shadows later on in post.  The Nikon D800 family of cameras have an amazing range of dynamic range in the iso 100 to 400 settings.

09/27/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Springtime at Haw Creek Falls in the Arkansas Ozarks

Haw creek falls in the Arkansas Ozarks
Springtime at Haw Creek Falls in the Arkansas Ozarks

Springtime at Haw Creek Falls in the Arkansas Ozarks–Click on image for a larger view

Taken with a Phase One IQ160, Rodenstock 28mm Lens, F11, iso50, for approx 1 second. If you like to spend time in the Arkansas Ozarks, but don’t want to be too far away from Little Rock, then consider Haw Creek Falls.  With the new policies from the National Park, and Arkansas State Parks, you never know when the adjoining campground will be open, however if the gate is closed, feel free to walk around it and head to the falls.  You can also access the falls from the Hwy 123 side of the creek.  Haw Creek is one of the classic ledge drops that are famous throughout the Arkansas Ozark mountains.  Here the creek drops over a ledge that is about 6 to 7 feet tall and has a interesting break in the middle where the watercourse changes directions.  I like to photograph Haw Creek many times during the year and on this day I caught it about as good as it gets with just enough water in the creek and a just darn near perfect sky and no WIND!  It takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to get to Haw Creek and it’s well worth the drive.  This photograph will be shown in Cantrell Gallery for the next few months please stop by and take a look if you get a chance.

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

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.

 

08/23/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Rocks and Leaves on the Cossatot River

Rocks and small pool on the Cossatot River
Rocks and Small pool on the Cossatot River

Rocks and Small Pool on the Cossatot River in Southwest Arkansas

Taken with a Canon 1ds MKII, iso 200, Canon 24-70 Lens @70mm, 1/60th of a second.  The Cossatot River is one of my favorite spots to hike.  You have all sorts of photographic subject matter to work with.  The Cossatot River is in the southwestern corner of Arkansas Ouachita Mountains.  You can find some of the best photography in the area known as the 6 falls or Cossatot Falls.  Here the river turns due south and drops over 6 separate ledges, each of which have unique rapids and names.  The rocks around Cossatot Falls are sandstone and have been worn totally smooth by the action of the water.  You can find all types of interesting formations, such as the one in the photograph above where lines of quartz are running through the rocks.

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.

 

07/06/13 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.

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.

04/12/13 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.

 

03/26/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunset over Sam’s Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks

Sunset over Sams Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks
Sunset over Sams Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks

Sunset over Sam’s Throne in the Arkansas Ozarks

Taken with a Phase One IQ-180, Schneider 43 Super Digitar lens, F11, iso 100, exposure time 1/30 sec.  This was a strange day, as the wind was blowing about 20 to 30 mph and just standing around trying to take the picture was a bit dangerous.  Sam’s Throne is a great place to spend a day and or night as there is now a informal maintained campground.  Sam’s Throne is the single large hill out in the distance but the entire valley has some wonderful views.  I like to try and catch a sunset there working to catch the sun illuminating the throne in the background.  This area is frequented by climbers so be prepared to watch some interesting activity on the rocks.  The rocks are mainly sandstone and will take on a deep orange yellow color with the sun shining on them.  The valley is surrounded by oaks and hickory trees which tend to have great display of fall color.

Copyright © Paul Caldwell, Photos of Arkansas