Exploring Northwest Arkansas

Fall morning at Roark Bluff

Roark Bluff is a popular spot for photographers. It's easily accessible, beautiful, and tends to have a variety of different lighting in the early mornings as the sun rises and reflects off the rocky bluff. Many an outstanding photo has been shot here.

Last fall, my wife bought me a spot in a Tim Ernst Photo Workshop (thank you Michelle!). I was super excited to take the course. I've enjoyed Tim's photography for years, and his hiking guides have been an invaluable resource as we've hiked the trails and waterfalls in Northwest Arkansas. So I was eager to learn some photography skills -- and in addition, enjoyed hearing some great stories and getting to meet someone who's words have inspired many a person to hike the Ozarks (including me).

And, I decided that as much as I love hiking the area, learning a few skills and tricks that would increase my odds of getting a good photo or three to share was well worth the investment for the course.

This picture was one of the early ones I took as the sun was barely rising and is one of my favorites that I took from the morning shoot. I love the stillness of the water, the reflections, and the hint of the beautiful day that is coming.

More scenes from our spring hike in Lost Valley

As I noted last week, with each season, the trails throughout Northwest Arkansas take on a different life. With spring comes high water, and waterfalls throughout valleys across the region.

Lost Valley is one of those amazing places that just takes on a different character based on the seasons, with clear, high water by the natural bridge part way up the trail. 

The water was also very high in Clark Creek -- causing a variety of cascades and water features (note the Natural Bridge at the top of the picture). 

More Scenes of Clark Creek.

Lost Valley is a beautiful hike any time of year.  You can get directions and trail notes here.

Spring in Lost Valley

Spring is an amazing time of year in the Ozarks. Spring rains cause waterfalls to sprout up where you never knew they existed, and early spring wildflowers bring pops of color to the landscape.

A couple of weeks ago, we hiked the Lost Valley Trail. We've hiked this trail probably a dozen times, but with each each season it brings something different to explore and recognize.

This trip, due to spring rains, we came across a small waterfall area that we'd never seen before.

The falls itself was great, and I loved the color as the water toppled over the bright green mossy covered rocks.

However, one of the other really cool features of this falls is that once the water hits the bottom, it runs backward into a cave back behind the falls where it flows underground until it eventually flows into Clark Creek.

Exploring upstream there were a lot of great little cascades and mossy rocks that made for a very pleasant and peaceful area right off the main trail.

I always encourage people to take time out while hiking and explore a little.  You never quite know what you'll find. 

For more information on the Lost Valley Trail, check out the trail overview from my 2011 Fall Hike there. 

After a long rain...

One of the things I love most about the Buffalo River Valley is the look it has after a full day's rain as the clouds/vapor/steam rise up above the valley. It's nearly impossible to photograph to get the full effect, but we went out to make an attempt at it after a full day's rain a couple weeks ago. Hopefully you'll get a feel for what I mean.

Meanwhile, we also got to see something I'd never seen before, which was the buzzards that usually roam the bluffs of the valley drying off their wings after the rain. There were probably 25 of them in two dead trees -- all with their wings spread out drying them off.

The Art of Photographing Water

One of the big draws to NW Arkansas is the water -- lakes, rivers, streams, and of course during the wet season, waterfalls.

This is a very good, and fairly short video on photographing water. The visuals themselves are worth watching for, but as you view the pictures, Chris Tennant give ideas of how he captured different effects of water -- slower exposures to capture motion, light, color, quick shutter speeds to capture impact, etc. 

It's a good presentation and hope it inspires you to explore and take your own photos.

 

The website where I found this can be found here.

Hat tip to psfk.