Ozark Images Blog

Boxley Valley

2009-11-18T23:16:01Z

Boxley Valley
Originally uploaded by bmwrider.

A few weeks back I had returned from another shoot and decided to drop by the Boxley Valley to see what was there. The Clouds were calling to me and I just had to photograph the valley.
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Haw Creek Falls by moonlight.

2009-11-06T03:13:00Z

Bob Laster, Mike Cooper, and I headed to Haw Creek Falls last night to photograph the falls by moonlight. We had made an eariler attempt to capture this image this year, but the weather did not want to play with us. Last night we had to wait around for about 3 hours for the moon to rise where we wanted it too. I will have to go back and try this again another time.

Haw Creek Falls by moonlight.

"Rite in the Rain" notebook review

2009-10-15T02:30:50Z

I am working on a review of the "Rite in the Rain" all-weather pocket notebook. I used these in Alaska when I was at McNeil River and worked very good. The one thing I did not like was the way the pen would skip across the paper. I Have used six pens for the test to see which one works the best. Here is a list of the pens I chose:

"Write in the Rain" Pen
BIC - Mark It Ultra Fine Pen
Sharpie Ink Pen
Pentel Permaroller Gold
Space Pen
Delta Elite ball point pen

I did not have a Sharpie Fine Point pen to try, I may wait till I get that pen, before I finish my test. So far the Bic Mark-It pen writes the best on the waterproof paper. We will se how it does when water is thrown on the page. What I am looking to do with this test is:

Which pen writes the best on the waterproof paper?
Does it hold up to the water test?
Does it smear while it is wet?
Which one is easiest to read?

That's the test in a nutshell, so I should finish this test some time this week and I will post the results.

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Arkansas Specific link

2009-10-12T01:21:36Z

I will add more links as I get a chance to the new Arkansas Specific area I have created as well as gear tests and reviews. I hope this will add to the value of the web site as well as get some information out to the hikers and photographers wanting to explore Arkansas. Be sure to buy Tim's Hiking Guides as well as Waterfall Guidebooks. He has worked hard to get this information to us and they are a great value for the money.

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Tea Kettle Falls

2009-10-11T22:32:35Z

I had a great day Saturday going to Tea Kettle Falls. Here are a few images from the trip. You can read the Journal as well as all the gear I used when you click on Arkansas Specific on the right. Hope this new fromat will be easy for every one.

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Me at the bottom of the falls. It is a great place to visit.

The top of the falls is the place where it goes through the hole and the water spouts out like a Tea Kettle, thus the name.

New Area to view

2009-10-11T22:12:48Z

I have added a new section to the right for photographers as well as others to view more detailed information about my images and equipment. Please keep in mind I am not a writer, so I will do my best to clearly write my ideas and information. I will always welcome edits, if that is your thing. Right now the new area is to the right and called Arkansas Specific. There you will find directions, GPS coordinates, camera infe etc. I welcome your comments if you want to more info just let me know.

I just made a trip to Tea Kettle Falls on Saturday and hope to post that journal entry soon.

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Data back-up week.

2009-08-06T19:56:31Z

I have spent several days burning DVD's backing up some of my images over the past few years. I guess I could back them up to eternal hard drives, but I have always used DVD's with great success, so I went that path. I am in the process of learning to use Lightroom as well as load my new version of Photoshop. I am not sure how much I will use Lightroom for processing RAW images, but the catalog feature is really great. So now I will be able to find my images all in one place. Becky will appreciate that when it comes time to print images for my next show. Of course, I also have to tag all my meta data correctly or the catalog process does me no good. I have a new Panasonic LX3 digital camera for snap shots and other projects. I have used it a few times, but have not give it a full test on nature images. I look forward to do that soon. I am in a photographic slump right now and have not done much photography. I hope to get back to it soon.

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What a way to start the day!

2009-05-12T09:21:22Z

Saturday May 9th

Friday night after returning from Haw Creek Falls photographing the waterfalls at night, I noticed a storm on the way. At about midnight we were hit with an intense storm for about 2 hours and the dogs were going crazy. The storm passed and I had my alarm set for 5 am to get up and head to Bowers Hollow to photograph the falls there. Bowers is up in the Buffalo Wilderness Area and is one of the most scenic waterfalls in the state. I hit the snooze a few times and quickly got out of bed and was ready to head out the door in a few minutes. I gathered my camera gear (the first load of gear) and headed to the car to load them into the car. I looked to my right and the BIG 150 year old tree next to our house had blown over from the storm last night and was in our pond. What a relief that it did not hit our house. If it hit our house we would probably not be here! I was a little stunned and woke Becky up to give her the news. I think she was in shock a little, because she was laying on the couch with the dogs during the storm and if it would have hit the house, it would have fell on her. That was scary!

Close call!

I called Bob to let him know it would be a few minutes before I could meet him to leave for Bowers Hollow. Thirty minutes later I was at McDonalds eating some breakfast and talking about the storm as well as our plans for today. We agreed we needed to visit a falls that was going to be flowing good from all the rain we had. Bowers Hollow was just the place we needed to go. I had been there years ago before digital cameras, and now was my chance to catch the falls in digital format. (For information on going to Bowers Hollow I strongly recommend getting Tim Ernst’s Arkansas Waterfall Book, check your local bookstore or go to Cloudland.net to get yours) We took off and headed up Hwy 21 to our destination. We have had at least 7 inches of rain over the past two weeks and the ground is really saturated. The roads we drove on showed those signs too! There is a section of road that is very bad that is about a ½ mile from the parking area into Bowers Hollow. Tim recommends only high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicles attempt this road. You really need to listen to the book on this one! Here is why....

We get to the road and I am telling Bob that the last time I was here with a friend of mine; we got stuck in her Jeep. Bob thinks we can handle the hill and I am a little reserved about this. We make the first attempt and we start spinning. The road looks very nasty and it is VERY WET clay. Bob thinks that if he takes a running start, we will be able to tackle this small hill. We get a running start and hit the muddy area in 4WD and we start spinning and the front of the truck takes a dive into the mud. We are stuck! Bob thinks we can get out, but the more we try, the further down we go. I get out and start gathering rocks to place under the tires. Just maybe we can get some traction, and get out of this situation. As I place the rocks around the tires, I step off into the mud and sink up to my knees. I am really stuck and can’t get out. Truck is stuck, Mark is stuck and I am really thinking we are stuck really bad. Bob pulls me out and I get stuck again. Hell, I can’t walk in this shit, how can some one drive in it! I am a little concerned right now. The main reason I am concerned is Bob is one of these guys that is prepared for everything. Anytime we go somewhere he has his camera gear and a whole lot more. Bob is not prepared! He doesn’t have anything to help us other than a rope and a few D-rings. This is not going to work. We set up a z-drag to try to pull the truck out, no success. We are sunk up to the frame by now and I KNOW we are really stuck!

Via Bob's iPhone / click to see larger image.

via Bob's iPhone / click to see larger image.

Bob has one tool that may save the day, his iPhone! Apple say’s they have an application for everything....we could use the winch app right now! Bob and I use the same AT&T carrier, I have no service, but Bob does. The iPhone may save the day! We try several people, but they can’t help us out. We have one hope, Tim lives near by and maybe if I can get in touch with him he can save us. I call up on the iPhone and Pam answers, I tell her I am really stuck and could they help us out. Tim gets on the phone and I can hear him chuckling under his breath....”I’ll gather a chain and see if we can get you out”. I am relieved, but don’t know if the Acura 4x4 family wagon will pull us out? About 20 minutes later Tim and Pam arrive to save the day (at least I hope). We hook a chain and a few nylon straps together and pull, but we don’t move. Tim tries again and no luck. Bob recommends we give him some slack and then make a tug. After several tries, we get loose and Tim pulls us in the mighty Acura as gravity helps us get down the hill. I am very happy this all worked out!

We were all talking after we were pulled to safety and a friend of Tim and Pam arrive at the scene, Terry from Fayetteville. Terry is hiking into the same area as we are and is interested to see if the ice storm has damaged the trail. As we hike in it is very clear that the ice storm has done some major damage to the trail. It takes us and extra hour or so hike that used to be an easy trail is now difficult. If you go to Bowers Hollow trail, be prepared for the extra time to get there. We dropped off the trail into the hollow and found the falls to be running very nice. We hiked down below the falls and rested from the long hike in. After drinking some water and eating a power bar, I was ready to photograph the falls. Enjoy the images.

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Bowers Hollow FallsBowers Hollow FallsBowers Hollow Falls

Haw Creek Falls more night images.

2009-05-12T09:11:52Z

May 8 2009

Bob Laster and I headed to Haw Creek Falls tonight to see if we could do some night time images of the falls by moon light. There is this interesting image captured by one of the National Geographic photographers while on assignment here in Arkansas. I charged up my batteries for my Canon 1Ds the night before so I would be ready to do after work. We have had rain for about two weeks now, and the ground is really saturated, so the creeks should be running.

We arrived at the Haw Creek Campground and was able to make the crossing through the creek and get into the campground without any problems. The sky was cloudy, so it did not look like we were going to get any moon light images, but maybe we could get some low light images just before sundown. The water was running very nice! I had not been to the falls with this much water running. As we were setting up the cameras, a fog started rolling in and we were going to have some nice images tonight.

With not much light, I was doing exposures around 8 to 10 seconds to get enough light for the exposure. I had wished we had more light, but it was a neat scene and we photographed it anyway. I liked the night time mood of the falls and can’t wait to go back and photograph it again.

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Haw Creek Falls at high water taken at night.Location: Haw Creek Falls

Camera : Canon 1Ds, tripod mounted, noise reduction on

Lens : Canon 17-40mm f/4 with polarizer

Haw Creek Falls at high water taken at night.Location: Haw Creek Falls

Camera : Canon 1Ds, tripod mounted, noise reduction on

Lens : Canon 17-40mm f/4 with polarizer

Show at Dover Middle School.

2009-04-14T17:43:58Z

Yesterday I was a guest at the Dover Middle School for 4 classes to talk about photography as well as do a slide show. The kids were great and had lots of good questions about photography as well as some of my images. It was a fun day and hope to do that again. Thanks to Sharla Hartzell for the invite to speak to her class.

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