12/15/15 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–Big water at Cedar Falls on Petit Jean Mountain

A great shot of Cedar Falls with both a lot of water and great fall color.

Taken with a Phase One P45+, Mamiya 35mm F 3.5 lens, for approx 1 second, with a circular polarizer, ISO 50.

The view of Cedar Falls on Petit Jean mountain is always impressive, but when you have a lot of water and fall colors, well, it just gets better. There was almost too much water running this day as the force of the water made all the sweetgums up by the falls be in constant motion. I was not really able to get to a shutter speed that would stop them totally so they just really blend into a mass of yellow. I had hoped for some red and yellow colors as is common with the sweet gums, but this year they were only yellow. Lots of folks don’t realize that the water in Cedar Creek is has such a brown tint to it. But on this day it just seemed to add to the overall shot.

To get this photograph, I had to stand in the water and cross out into the creek. Standing where I was the spray coming off the falls was also pretty constant. I had tried to get closer, but the spray was just too much to handle as it covered the front of my lens very quickly. I used a circular polarizer even though the sun was not out as it always seems to help bring out better overall colors and there was still glare on the rocks. I tried several shutter speeds this day, but anything over 1 second just did not look very good as the there was too much water moving by at such a high rate speed.

Cedar falls is one of the highest “real” waterfalls in Arkansas at over 75 feet tall. You can hike down to the base of the falls the trail that starts at the back of Mather Lodge.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the photography of this website is the property of www.photosofarkansas.com and is copy right protected. Do not copy any of the images on this site to paste on Facebook, Pintrest, or any other website without the permission of Paul Caldwell. Years of time have gone into capturing these photographs, please respect that. I do not take copy right infringement lightly. If you have a need to display any of my work on your site ASK me before you Copy & Paste.

12/14/15 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–Fall view below Big Bluff on the Buffalo River

Fall Vista below Big Bluff on the Buffalo River

Taken with a Phase One P45+ and 35mm F 3.5 lens, ISO 50, 2 exposures-one polarized and one non-polarized for reflections.

The Buffalo River has numerous bluffs along it’s entire length, but Big Bluff is the tallest at well over 550 feet tall from the river. Big Bluff is famous for the goat trail, which is a narrow shelf of rock that cuts across the middle Big Bluff. At a few points it’s barely 4 feet wide and the edge is straight off. Since the road down to Big Bluff from Hwy 21 was closed, you now have to hike down from the Compton Trail head and that is a major hike. The trail itself is at least 2 miles to the goat trail, and it’s all up hill on the way back. There is no water on the trail unless you happen go during a heavy rain so plan to bring some.

The best view is not from the the goat trail, but instead from the bottom of the bluff. Here in the fall you can catch some wonderful reflections along the river bank if the river is calm. On this day, I hiked in from Steel creek and waited for about 2 hours for the wind to die down. The wait was well worth it as the sunlight improved and the tress on the far bank were just lit up. It’s very interesting to note, that only the trees along the river were starting to turn and the trees up towards the top are still mainly green.

I used a Phase One P45+ back to take this photograph. I used a tripod mainly since I was going to bracket the shots. I wanted to use a polarizer to help cut the glare off the trees but I also knew that the polarizer would cut down on the reflections. So it was a simple thing to take two shots bracketing and then combine them later in Photoshop. This hike from Steel creek is a about 1.5 miles one way and you have to cross the Buffalo several times, so plan to make this trip on a low water day, or from a canoe.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the photography of this website is the property of www.photosofarkansas.com and is copy right protected. Do not copy any of the images on this site to paste on Facebook, Pintrest, or any other website without the permission of Paul Caldwell. Years of time have gone into capturing these photographs, please respect that. I do not take copy right infringement lightly. If you have a need to display any of my work on your site ASK me before you Copy & Paste.

12/05/15 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–Breakout

A wonderful sunrise taken from Flatside Pinnacle

Taken with a Canon 5D MKII, and 24-70MKI lens, iso 400 Single exposure

Flatside Pinnacle, really is the gateway to the Ouachita mountains and the view to the west from the summit is well worth the drive out from Little Rock. Don’t confuse this with Pinnacle Mountain, which is much closer to Little Rock. Flatside pinnacle is around 1,500 feet tall, which puts it higher than Petit Jean, and Mt. Nebo. On a clear day you can can see Forked Mountain way off in the distance and also Mt. Magazine, the highest spot in Arkansas. Looking behind you can make out the eastern end of Petit Jean mountain and the Mt. Nebo and Spring Mountain. Flatside was recently heavily defaced with paint which just goes to show there are SOME REALLY FRIGGIN STUPID PEOPLE out there. Not sure why they bother to come out. I have worked on the graffiti now about 3 times over the past year and it’s finally starting to wear off, but it’s a damn shame that some folks just don’t get it and want to ruin it for everyone.

This was a morning that really did not turn out to be a very good day, but there was a brief period where the sun managed to break through the heavy clouds and really the effect was wonderful. Fall was in full bloom and so the colors down in the valley from the summit of Flatside Pinnacle were excellent. I worked this image up in Lightroom and then used Topaz clarity to help bring out more of the rays of the sun in the fog. This light only lasted about 10 minutes and then the clouds settled back down over the entire valley. Just another example of just how much photography is luck and being able to be at the right spot at the right time.

Flatside is worth a hike anytime of the year. It offers some of the best sunsets in the Ouachitas. Sadly the wilderness boundary continues to become more and more defined by recent clear cuts, which leave huge swatches of solid green pine trees in their place. If you go after a big storm or in winter you might want to bring a chainsaw or handsaw as it’s quite possible to find a recent fallen tree blocking the road.

Old Home near St. Joe Arkansas–01/31/15 Featured Arkansas Photography

Old home near St. Joe Arkansas

Taken with a Nikon D800e, Nikon 24-120mm lens, at around 35mm F5.6 iso 100 single exposure. This is one of the places I have driven by many times on the way to Woolum Ford on the Buffalo River. The home itself is in a total state of disrepair, but if you look closely at the front the woodwork there is most impressive. I would love to go up closer, but this is on private land. The weeds that have grown up around the front bothered me at first, but then after looking at the shot, I felt that they just added in. I love that fact that there are no power lines running to the building as they can be a pain to work with in post production. Someone spent a great deal of time on the decorative wood work on the front and most of it is still in place. One of the many old wonders in Arkansas.