new sights

Clark Creek generally runs underground through Lost Valley. I've only seen water flowing through the last 1/3rd of the trail. I was very surprised to see Clark Creek rumbling through the whole Lost Valley. I was so giddy to see all sorts of new cascades and didn't mind shooting in the rain.

life and death

The Parker-Hickman homestead is an awesome place to explore if you ever find yourself in Newton County, Arkansas. There's a small cemetery behind the homestead, which to my surprise was full of daffodils. It was really lovely to see a still cared for cemetery in the middle of the forest.

chasing ansel

I'm certainly not as good as Ansel Adams, nor will I ever be, but sometimes I take a shot that I think is at least in the spirit of his style. Anyway this was taken with my Holga WPC camera that makes panoramas. This is one of my favorite waterfalls - Eden Falls in the Lost Valley.

the importance of being ernsty

I imagine if you hunt for waterfalls in Arkansas or even if you hike a lot, you've heard of Tim Ernst. His books have made many of my adventures possible. Ernst tends to take pictures of himself standing next to waterfalls. I imagine this is mostly for scale, but his Captain Morgan style pose always cracks me up a little. If I have time, I take my own Ernst pose. It's actually a lot more fun than it seems like it'd be.

hay: the rural landscape's pink flamingo

Zack and I did a bit of rambling not too long ago. The main mission was to explore Rickett's Mountain. I about lost it when I saw this barn. It's just a perfect rural barn, especially with the vines growing on it. There was a modern tractor parked out out of frame at the right. It took a bit of time (and trespassing) to figure out how to compose a shot without the ugly tractor in the way.

triple play

Third times the charm!!

This is one of those waterfalls that alluded me. Given the right weather conditions and water conditions, waterfall shooting is pretty basic. Give me clouds and lots of water and I'll have a field day. However, if you don't have the right conditions waterfall shooting is really difficult or impossible.

My first trip to Triple Falls was cloudy, but there was very little water. The second trip had tons of water but tons of sun. I was starting to think I would never be lucky enough to catch this place during high waters and on a cloudy day.

My third trip out involved taking my car down the muddy, steep forest roads. This road is not meant for cars. By the time I maneuvered the roads all the clouds were gone. I was pretty upset about it, but liked the waterfall enough to stay and soak in the view. After about 30 minutes of splashing around in the creek checking out butterflies and rocks, clouds appeared! I was so happy I nearly tipped over my tripod setting it up. (No camera attached!)

I was able to snap a bunch of shots in short window of time the clouds allowed. This was my favorite one and as taken as the clouds were moving out. The water isn't nearly as smooth as I'd like, but I still think it's a good shot.

inspired

Here's a slightly different view of the Glory Hole. This place is really amazing.

when in rural georgia

I met up with Evan Leavitt when I was in Georgia. It was pretty awesome, because he was able to show me a lot of places I was familiar with through his photography. I was still doing a self-portrait series during the trip and asked Evan to be in the shot. Some of my favorite self-portraits were ones that included someone else.

Here was one with Zack and Caden at Hawksbill Crag.


Here's one with many of my co-workers.

fighting change

Boxley Valley is so beautiful. There's a lot of access points to the Buffalo River near here and the Lost Valley trail. I never pass up the chance to see the area again. I loved getting to see it on the threshold between Winter and Spring.

tin roof rusted

I've seen pictures from the Parker-Hickman Homestead in Erbie, Arkansas before. When Zack and I explored the area I asked to stop by. I wanted to see the place for myself. It really is a cool little place, and it's nice that it's now preserved by the National Park system. Hopefully it will be here for others to enjoy for a long time.

snow hawk

Hawkbill Crag in the snow!

This hike was a bit rough for me. It might have been that I was sick or that the hike was in snow. It could just be that I'm that out of shape. I wouldn't say the hike is bad. It is all slightly uphill leaving though. Zack and Caden were pretty patient with me huffing and puffing back to the Jeep.

around the bend

I have a certain friend (that shall remain nameless) that loves road shots. I used to lecture him about standing in the road getting shots. Of course, I do it too so I finally stopped nagging him. Anyway Zack and I both took this very shot to intentionally imitate his style. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Right? ;-)

zOMG!!

This was in Boxley Valley in Newton County, Arkansas.

I really love cows. I really love back-lighting. I really love snow. What else can I say?

getting low in the snow

This was at the Steel Creek Campgrounds along the Buffalo River in Newton County, Arkansas. It's such a great area. The Ozarks had a pretty heavy snow about a month ago. I loved the look of the snow melting over the Spring grass.

under the bridge

Here's another shot from The Lost Valley near Ponca, Arkansas. It's such a beautiful place. I've explored many places in Arkansas that this remains one of my favorites. A bonus is that the trail is easy to follow and not difficult. It makes this beauty accessible to a lot of people.

This small cascade under the Natural Bridge doesn't have a name, and since I'm not very creative I just call it the Natural Bridge Cascade. It works, eh?

limiting evil

The Parker-Hickman Homestead was built around 1847 and is believed to be one of the oldest homes along the Buffalo National River. It was actually owned and lived in by the Hickman family from 1912-1978. In 1982 it was sold to the parks service and added to the National Register of Historic Places.

About a mile past the house up a very bumpy mountain dirty road is the family cemetery - Cherry Grove Cemetery. I actually wish I had known the previous owners of the home before I went, because there were a few other surnames, but I now think they were all people that lived on this homestead. I originally assumed families from other homesteads were also buried there.

There is a tradition in the South of painting doorways and sometimes ceilings and other areas "haint blue" to keep away evil spirits or haints. Haint blue isn't a specific shade of blue, and since I've become aware of it, I've seen it in shades from pale blue up to a deep aqua. I believe the color is supposed to close to that of water because haints cannot cross water. Interestingly enough the water in the area is this exact color.

More info on haint blue.

white out

The Ozarks got nearly a foot of snow this Spring. Arkansas has actually had a ton of snow. Zack, Caden, and I had already made plans to head up there and test out Zack's new Jeep. The snow was icing on the cake. We woke up at 2am to get there for sunrise. It's lucky we did, because most of the snow had melted by 10am. We managed to get some shots before that happened.

I loved the sun in this shot. It's rare to be outside and have it be warm enough you don't need a jacket, but snow completely covers the ground. I overexposed this a bit then upped the contrast in post to sort of blend the horizon line.

exposed

I really loved this barn. The texture of the wood is fascinating, but I also liked how clear the field was around it. The way I shot this and the processing sort of made it look like cross processed slide film.

This was taken in Erbie, Arkansas.

it's a small world afterall

I'm going to buck my usual format and post both of these together. There are special lens called tilt/shift lens that can create the look above. However, there doesn't seem to be too many practical reasons to make things look miniature, so the hefty price tag isn't worth it for most. Luckily there's a few cheaper ways to do this. I think the Lensbaby lens can do this, but if you aren't shy about post processing you can achieve a similar affect with a five minute edit.

These were taken at the now abandoned theme park - Dogpatch U.S.A. Like a lot of people from Arkansas and surrounding states I went here as a child. Here's a bonus shot of kiddie Windy at Dogpatch: