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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: , , , , , , ,

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: , , , , , , ,

11/19/13 Some more thoughts on my nighttime photography

Posted on November 20, 2013 //

Stary night at Sam's Throne

Stary night at Sam’s Throne–Click on photography for a larger image

I have a new write-up on some of my nighttime photography throughout Arkansas.   I have place a small gallery inside the article and then have some descriptions about the various images.  Each of the images involves a different form of photographic technique such as stacking, or single long exposures.  I have have a shot of a lightening bolt directly over Pinnacle Mountain that was taken during a series of images I took during the storm.  These are some of my favorite images from the last few years.   You can read the entire article here:

Filed Under: Featured Photography // Tagged: , , , , ,

06/02/12 Arkansas is drying up in a hurry!

Posted on June 2, 2012 //

After driving up to the Buffalo National River yesterday, I was made very aware of just how dry the state has become.  The entire Ozark Mountain area is now a tinderbox just waiting for a lightening strike or a errant cigarette butt.  My gauge for the dryness was looking at the road side grasses and wildflowers, or lack of.  The grass is now totally yellow and there is hardly any green along the roads.  You can even start to see a hit a stress showing on the trees, but they probably have one more month before things get really bad.

The Buffalo National River, near Steel Creek is so low that it really doesn’t look like a river now.  You can cross it at Steel creek without getting your feet wet.  The flow is more like what one should see in late August, not the 1st of June.  If you are planning to float the river, I would not consider putting on anything higher than Gilbert. [Read more…]

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