rock hounds

I haven't decided if I'm going to stick to a more traditional format or not, but I figure I'll give it a try. I end up forgetting to tell so many stories because I post shots out of order.

My friends, Jennifer and Eric, are rock hounds. You know, they like to dig around in the dirt and look for random rocks and minerals. I do not understand this AT ALL. I do try to be supportive and generally like all things outdoors. I told them my trail guide mentioned a place that has quartz crystal and ended up being their tour guide for the day.

Winona Forest Drive is near Perryville, Arkansas and carves through a portion of the Ouachita National Forest. It's nearly 26 miles of fairly decent dirt road that connects Highway 9 to Highway 7.

If you travel from the East to West the first stop is the Nancy Mountain vista.


After that you can stop and do a short trail up North Fork Pinnacle. I didn't find much of interest through Eric found a fossil that's apparently pretty old. The only thing I spotted was a massive spiderweb.


Our next stop was the quartz crystal stop - Crystal Mountain vista. This is where we managed to get a creeper story. We hiked the short 0.2 miles up to the vista. A few hundred feet from the end of the trail I started hearing things. I stopped to figure out what direction it was coming from and who it might be. I realized it was definitely a radio but one set to talk radio. We got closer and spotted a trunk parked deep in the brush, doors wide open, no one inside, and a church sermon blaring from the speakers. I decided to ignore it, since there was three of us and two dogs. I knew the dogs would probably alert us of trouble. I got this shot from the vista while Eric and Jennifer tried to figure out where the quartz would be.



By this point a storm as moving in, and we were thinking it'd be better to rock hunt on a cooler day. Suddenly an old guy tromps through the brush towards us. "Y'all looking for crystals?" I said we were but didn't know where to go. He pointed at a very overgrown path and ran along the side of the hill. He said the crystals where that way. Jennifer and Eric weren't really prepared for a trek through bushwack. We ended up deciding to go and come back in the Fall or Winter.

The next stop was the Forked Mountain vista. Forked Mountain is probably the most famous mountain that you can see from Winona Forest Drive.





The final stop before ending up back on paved road is the Oak Mountain vista. This one was probably my favorite. It could have been the light and the new storm clouds that made the view, but I liked it the most anyway. :-)


After that we got back on Highway 10 and headed towards Little Rock. I was majorly preoccupied with the mist/fog created by the rain and requested that my friends make a few stops.

We actually turned around at this cool old barn I had shot once before (back in the point and shoot days). I was pretty excited to see it in better light conditions.


There's something about railroad tracks I will probably always be drawn to. The fog really gave it a creepy feel I think. Also check out the holga-like edit.





My final stop was trespassing onto some shooting range to grab some shots of hay bales. I wondered if I'd be shot, one being on a shooting range and two for trespassing. However, it was raining and NO ONE seemed to be around, so I took a risk and stayed near the road for a few quick shots.

hidden gem

I didn't scan this for a few months. I guess I thought it wasn't very good. It ended up being the best shot on the roll. If you shot film, scan all of it!

on the right track

I like railroad tracks. It's one of those cliche things to shoot. I think with the lensbaby I was able to get a different result though.

ha!

Who doesn't love laughter?

the house tim burton built

This was an abandoned building in Bigelow, Arkansas. My shooting buddy thought the slant made it look like something out of a Tim Burton movie. I have to agree. I asked a friend to do an edit to make it look more like that.

you can't make a mountain straight

Here's a shot at the Wye Mountain Daffodil Field. I was testing out my newest camera - Holga 120 WPC. It's a pinhole camera which means the shutter had to stay open for about 14 seconds to get this shot.

what friends do

I've always carried a camera around with me and have forever been the queen of people's display pictures on myspace and facebook. However, about a year ago when I got into photography "for real" my friends scattered as if I was shooting bullets from my camera. It generally takes some begging and pleading to get someone to step in front of the lens these days. Tillie has been kind enough to let me practice twice! This makes my third real attempt at portraits. I think I'm improving.

I have to say I'm grateful to her. I never really have much advice on how she should pose, and I spend a lot of time fussing about light and focus. She's a pretty good friend for tolerating it!

Here's was my best of Tillie the last time she let me practice.

going my way?

I know pictures of railroad tracks are really cliche, but I do love taking pictures there. This is a shot with a Lensbaby. I'm borrowing it for a bit, and I really do love it. It's fun to play around with the focus. I am trying to retrain myself and only use it where it'd make or break a shot. This is the type of lens I'd want to use for everything. This was taken in Bigelow, Arkansas.

fAITH

This is on Highway 60 in Perry County, Arkansas. When I spot stuff like this, I just have to stop.

and the clouds parted

This is one of those places my parents found. They are pretty good at building scouting. Dad mentioned this place quite a few time until I finally went. It's on Highway 60 between Conway and Perryville. I ended up being in Conway and having about 30 minutes to kill so I went wandering in search of St. Boniface Catholic Church. I'm glad I went. I had a different church in mind when he was telling me about it, but this one was even more amazing.

expansive

Here's another shot from the trip to Flatside Pinnacle with Zack. This is one of those shots that had a high ISO. The view up there is amazing. We got there about two hours before sunset, but I enjoyed every bit of waiting around for sunset. I have a feeling it would take a long, long time for a view like that to get old.

on edge

I met up with Zack for a shooting trip at Flatside Pinnacle. This was the first time I'd met him and the first time I'd been out to Flatside. It was a lot of fun other than I forgot to set my ISO and left it on auto. It ended up picking an ISO much higher than I'd like for some shots. I decided not to fret about that too much though. A little noise never hurt anyone...right? It's like film grain.

Flatside Pinnacle is in Perry County. Despite the similar name, it is a different mountain from Pinnacle Mountain. This is great, because I'm still mad at Pinnacle Mountain for the angle sprain from last Spring.

Anyway, the sunset ended up being a little flat, but it was still worth the trip out there just for that amazing view. I just can't imagine having many worries in life standing at the top of Flatside and looking out over the Ouachita National Forest.