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01/08/25 Fall Scene from the Buffalo Red Bluff Overlook

Posted on January 8, 2025 // Leave a Comment

One of the many great bluff/overlook locations on the Buffalo National River is Red Bluff. Actually there are at least two different Red Bluffs. One is this one which is below Gilbert the other below Woolum, closer to Hwy 65.

I tried to find this spot for several years, before locating it in 2022. The spot where you actually stand to take the picture is literally right above the drop off. If you prefer to not have the old twisted Cedar tree trunk in your image, you have to be pretty brave and get to where your feet are hanging off. It pays to remember that the slope behind you is actually about 45 degrees and all loose gravel, so I do not go any lower towards the edge.

I took this shot with an Hasselblad X2D, and 21mm lens, on a tripod, and shot the image in a 3 shot exposure bracket. I have found that the X2D is very selective on exposing highlights correctly and it’s very easy to blow out skies. You do have considerable shadow push at base ISO of 64 but even so if I can, I will always shoot a bracket. The image was worked up in Phocus and then tweaking in Photoshop. As much as I hate Phocus, I have repeatedly found that it give the best color to a X2D file. Lightroom just can’t get the same look for me.

When you arrive at this location, be aware that it’s not going to allow very many photographers to be standing around so you might try to get there as early as possible and not attempt to go there on a weekend. For example, from where I was standing off to the left of center, if another person decided to come down and get below me by the tree, then they would have been in all the shots I attempted to take. This would have made post processing very difficult.

Fall in 2024 for Arkansas was another terrible year. As you can see in the image most of the color is brown. There was some nice color up by the river in many places, but when you went looking for an overlook most of the trees showed up with brown. We were lucky to get an amazing sky on this morning and it added immensely to the overall look of the shot.

Filed Under: Arkansas Landscape Shooting Information, Featured Photography, Hasselblad // Tagged: , , , , , , ,

01/22/24 Looking through the Keyhole on Roark Bluff–Autumn

Posted on January 23, 2024 //
A view from the summit of Roark Bluff in Arkansas, featuring the keyhole.

One of my favorite locations in Arkansas is the Buffalo River which runs across the northern part of the state. It runs eastward eventually emptying into the White River, making it the largest tributary of the White.

I love to work the river, along it total length. Fall offers some wonderful color as various deciduous trees turn shades of yellow, red, and bright orange.

This particular spot is what I call the keyhole and is on the top of Roark Bluff. Roark bluff is one of the single largest bluffs on the river and is near the town of Ponca. You can get to the base of the bluff by stopping by the Steel Creek landing. Directly below Roark is Bee Bluff, which can offer a wonderful view at sunset in the fall.

I took this shot with a Fuji X-T2, in a series of bracketed exposures to combine later as a single image. From this view you can see the upper end of Roark Bluff as it winds around to the left and in the lower part of the image you can see the Buffalo River and the row of Maple and Gum trees that line the river bank on the left side.

Filed Under: Arkansas Landscape Shooting Information, Arkansas Outdoors // Tagged: , , , , , , ,

03/14/19 Official Buffalo River Brochure now features my photography

Posted on March 14, 2019 //

If you travel to any United States National Park, you are familiar with the official brochures that you can pick up when you enter the Park.  This is copy of the most recent one for the Buffalo National River, in Arkansas.



Last year I was approached to have one of my images included in this brochure.  The image is not the cover, which in it’s own right is a great shot taken from the goat trail on Big Bluff.  But instead the park service used my shot of the Natural bridge in Lost Valley.

Lost Valley which is one of the most visited spots on the upper Buffalo, offers so many subjects to photograph, I can’t begin to list them all.  It’s interesting to note that in the brochure, the Park service used two different images.  My shot and one from another photographer showing where Clark Creek runs under ground at certain water levels.

My thanks to the National Park service for considering my image which is the shot of the Natural Bridge.


Nice to get a photo credit for this publication.  You can see this image in my gallery on www.photosofarkansas.com

http://photosofarkansas.com/gallery/photo.php?src=galleries/Arkansas_Ozark_Gallery_No_1/01.1_The_Natural_Bridge_in_Lost_Valley_near_Ponca_Arkansas_on_the_Buffalo_River.jpg

The Buffalo River is one of the most beautiful places in the United State, and I love to spend time there.

 

If you are coming to Arkansas, make a plan to either float on the Buffalo or enjoy some of the many hundreds of miles of hiking trails.

 

Written for paulcaldwellphotography.com please do no reproduce or reprint any of this content without permission. 

Filed Under: Arkansas Outdoors // Tagged: , , , , ,

09/23/16 Fall is starting a bit early in Arkansas–Buffalo River Trip

Posted on September 26, 2016 //

Late afternoon light creeping along Roark Bluff on the Buffalo National River

Late afternoon light creeping along Roark Bluff on the Buffalo National River

Another example of the amazing Dynamic range of the Phase One IQ100 digital back.  This is one exposure and I was still able to hold my shadows and keep the highlights in line.  This camera still continues to amaze me. What an amazing improvement over the CCD technology of the past.

On my recent trip to the Buffalo, I was surprised to see that the fall colors have already started to display.  This shot was taken on the upper end of the Buffalo River at Steel Creek featuring Roark Bluff.  The water is low, as expected for this time of year, but I was surprised by the amount of color already starting to show.  Along with several tree species that have just turned brown.   In this shot you can see that the Sycamore tree on the right side has a nice golden brown color and the trees to the immediate right edge are also showing some color.

The trees on the left are all Maple and Gum trees and since the sun was setting through them, I really could not see enough to tell what the colors might be.  But looking upstream you can see that several oaks are getting the same yellow look.

This is tough shot to take in the late afternoon, since the sun will set right at your left side.  But the reward is that the entire bluff will be lit up briefly by the sun.  In the summer months, the effect is more pronounced since the sun is higher in the sky, but in the fall you can still catch a nice yellow tint to the rocks.  I love to see the transition from yellow to grey on the bluff.

If you are lucky, you will not have any wind and can catch a wonderful reflection.   This shot is also an excellent photographic study in the morning as most times there will be some fog on the river.  You can catch the reflection and the fog both.  I opt for the other solution which is to climb to the top of the bluff and catch the same shot but from the top of the bluff.  Either way you can expect to find excellent shots.

This part of the Buffalo also is close to the Boxley Valley, which offers Lost Valley, and Elk among other great things to photograph.

Filed Under: Arkansas Landscape Shooting Information, Phase One Cameras // Tagged: , , , , , , ,

07/01/12 The weather in Arkansas remains bleak–Heat and more Heat

Posted on July 1, 2012 //

The heat wave continues in Arkansas

The heat wave continues in Arkansas

Well as much as I would like to say “it’s all OK here in the State of Arkansas”, I really can’t.  This has to be the worst heat wave since the mid 1980’s when the state went almost 60 days with no measurable rainfall.  As you can see from the forecast page above, for the next ten days Arkansas temperatures will stay well over 95 degrees and on many days they will climb over 100 degrees.

If this continues for much longer, then you can safely assume a few things:

  1. Within 20 more days you will start to see large numbers of trees going into stress.  When this occurs the leaves will turn brown and stay on the tree until late fall.  However it also means that any hope of a good photographic fall will be ruined.
  2. Most if not all of the major trunk streams in the State are going to dry up totally, this includes the upper Buffalo River near Boxley, Piney Creek near Russellville, the Cossatot River in the Southwest corner of Arknasas, and the Mulberry River near Fort  Smith.  The smaller streams like Richland Creek have already dried up and unless the state gets some significant rainfall in July and August, I don’t think they will have anything in the fall either.
  3. The fire hazard in the state is at highest level.  On my last trip to the Buffalo River in early June, I was already seeing sights along the roads that let me know we were in for a long hot one.  The roadside wildflowers were gone and the grasses that grow along the road side were all brown.  Now almost a month later, all of these areas are going to be at a high risk if someone throws out a cigarette.
  4. Deer, Elk, and other large wildlife will stay in the deep glens and valleys of the state and not venture out in to the flats due to the excessive heat.  So wildlife photography will be much harder than stopping along the road side and taking out your camera.

    5. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hiking // Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,