slipping and sliding

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the forbidden unknown

I love fog shots. I always get a tad jealous when I see a great shot someone's taken in the fog. Mostly because I always manage to miss fog. Having said that, I guess you can imagine that I was tickled pink when I was out shooting and "thick as pea soup" fog slowly formed. I probably stopped at every interesting tree and fence post until I had driven out of the fog. I know all the other people on this highway weren't very happy with me.

This shot was taken on my way home from the Glory Hole. No, I haven't formed any new, seedy interests as of late. The Glory Hole happens to be an amazing waterfall located near Fallsville, Arkansas. (I so didn't mention the Glory Hole for google search hits either.)

let it snow

Well folks, I type this in the midst of a record breaking cold year. Here in Arkansas temperatures below freezing are almost unheard of. We've had many, many days under freezing. I guess that's great news for the bug population next year though. We've even had some snow, though Little Rock has seen very little of that.

It's a widely known fact I'm a bad driver. I don't test my skills when it starts to snow (or mostly ice). We had a bit of snowfall last week, and I wanted to capture it. Here's a self portrait I took in my backyard to celebrate the snow. It was only a dusting here, but up North they got a bit more snow to enjoy.

rocky waters

This picture sparked a discussion on Flickr about the blue-green water that's present in most of the Ozarks. I hadn't given it much thought other than knowing it was either something living in the water (doubtful since it's so wide-spread) or some sort of sediment suspended in the water. I, however, didn't know enough to claim to be an expert and post why.

I asked my on-call expert, Brian Cormack, about it. Here's what he posted:

The blue-green water in the Ozarks is from tiny suspended particles of limestone in the water. The minerals in the water cause it to reflect this particular wavelength of light back out of the water. The creeks and rivers get the bits of limestone from the rocks and cliffs that make up the Ozark plateau.

Anyway, if anyone wondered there's the explanation. This is Six Finger Falls which is created by Falling Water Creek. It's near the small town of Ben Hur, Arkansas. There's a few very pretty waterfalls along this creek. Most of which are viewable from the road.

spit free zone

I try to take my camera with me if I'm headed anywhere remotely interesting. (That basically means anywhere I go.) Even if I don't stop for pictures, I tend to view the world around me a little differently when I have a camera with me.

This shot above is a great example. It's in Cabot, Arkansas and located a few buildings down from my dogs' vet. I had to have seen the place dozens of times. However, this was the first time I've noticed it. I love the hand-painted signs all over the walls. I love the fake leather couch sitting outside. I especially love the warnings not to spit on the slab!

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.

december 2009 (best of)

I've slowed down with shooting in December. Winter makes me cranky. I did manage a few shots I'm proud of though.



I went to the Christmas Light lighting ceremony at the Arkansas State Capitol this year. It's the first time I've been. It was cold, but I still had a lot of fun. Actually the joy I felt as a kid during the holiday season resurfaced for a brief time. My face was numb but I still know I was smiling. There's something to be said about free hot chocolate, friends, Christmas music, and decorations.



Here's one from Eureka Springs. This was taken inside the Crescent Hotel. Rumor is the hotel is haunted. People run around with cameras trying to capture orbs. I actually got a few myself, but they were light reflections off the ceiling fan. I still sort of believe in that stuff and would love to stay there overnight.



I went back to the Arkansas State Capitol to capture the holiday decorations inside. Even in the middle of the day on a weekday I'd have to patiently wait for quite a while for areas to clear out. These decorations are pretty popular. The Capitol is beautiful as it is, but with decorations it really shines!



I wanted a picture of the trolley in front of the Capital Hotel and Stephens Inc. for a while now. The light or sky was always wrong. This day I hadn't even planned that shot, but the trolley happened by when I was there so I finally got the shot!



The Glory Hole is an amazing place. I spent part of Christmas Eve there, and it really was glorious.