07/23/12 Featured Arkansas Photography–Lightening Strike over Pinnacle Mountian in Pulaski County Arkansas

Lightening stike over Pinnacle Mountain in Pulaski County Arkasnas

Lightening strike over Pinnacle Mountain in Pulaski County Arkansas

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, Canon 24-70 Lens at 24mm, F2.8, Bulb exposure, tripod mounted camera. This image will be added to my favorites, mainly because of just how hard it was to take. I had been photographing the sunset from the other side of Pinnacle mountain when this storm started to blow in. The early lightening drove me off and I headed around to the west side hoping to get a shot of lightening over the mountain. By the time I made it over, the rain was starting to fall and lightening was flying all through the air. At first I thought I could stand outside my car, with my tripod and take the shot, but soon I started to notice my arm hairs standing up so I choose to move back to my car. I put the tripod outside the car window and then setup my remote release so that I could hit the shutter when I first started to see lightening out of the corner of my eye. I just set the lens to infinity and F2.8 hoping to get the most light as possible. I captured this shot on the 3rd attempt. What amazed me was the different colors of blues that were in the sky as the lightening went off. The orange color off to the left of the image I didn’t notice until I looked at the shot.

07/01/12 Featured Arkansas Photography–Moonset over the Boxley Valley on the Buffalo National River

Moonset over the Boxley Valley along the Buffalo National River

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, 45 second exposure, Iso 100, Canon 24-70 Lens @ F6.3, Single Exposure. With modern Digital Cameras, it is amazing just how long you and work with a single exposure. I was on my way to photograph Elk in the Boxley valley and as I came around the corner on Hwy21, I saw moon was setting over this field. The temperature around 10 degrees that morning, much cooler than right now! I knew I had to work fast as the once the moon starts to set, it seems to move very fast so I rushed to set up all my gear. I took this shot on a tripod at around 45 seconds. I was amazed that I didn’t get too much movement with the moon as it was setting. I used the tree in the foreground to help block out the center of the moon but it still came out pretty bright. The sky is a blue color which is normal when you work with the moon. If you look closely you can see the moonlight reflecting off of bits of ice on the ground. The amount of light that was available can be seen by the shadows along the fence row.

06/29/12 Featured Arkansas Photography–Sunrise over Lake Maumelle in Western Pulaski County

Early Morning Lake Maumelle in western Pulaski County Arkansas

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, Canon 24-70 Lens at F11, 3 exposures bracketed allow for a combination in Photoshop, Iso 100. You have to get up early to catch a shot like this on on Lake Maumelle. I was headed to Petit Jean Mountain to work Cedar Falls but as I crossed western end of Lake Maumelle, I caught this shot looking back to the east. I liked the way the early morning fog was pulling up off the lake towards the opposite shore. There was just a bit of breeze on the lake, but I still liked the outcome. Lake Maumelle is the water supply for the city of Little Rock and is about 10 miles outside of the city limits. Not a long drive.