Lost Valley National Park is a treasure of Arkansas. I went for the first time in November 2018 and again this week. I never seem to have enough time when I visit these incredible places. I always try to calculate the time of day and sun placement in the area that I am visiting. Each time I traveled from Fayetteville area east on 412 to the Huntsville, Kingsville and then to Ponca. Where 21 intersects into 43 there has always been a herd of Elk grazing. The park ranger at Lost Valley told me that the Colorado Park Service transported about 25 Elk in the area about 10 years ago and now he estimates 300 to 400 Elk are in the area.
In between last Thanksgiving and now the national park service has taken full control of the park and rerouted the entrance into a great big parking lot which visitors depart to the main trail. The trails are very nice now. It is wheelchair accessible for about the first 3/4 of a mile and then there are rock stairs. The trail up to this point has many vistas and points of interest as most national parks have. There is signage and information along the way.
On this morning in November the temps were in the twenties. It had been overcast for several days in the area but on this day the sun was out. The trees and leaves left from the fall foliage were covered with a film of ice from a recent rain. As the sun started to warm up the area the leaves started to drip the melting ice. The sound this was making was incredible. I was the only person in the park on this day and felt blessed to have seen and heard this happen. The sun magnified the wet color of the fall leaves.
On my next visit was this past week, I knew it would be different as the Clark River would be running through Lost Valley Park. I did not know what to expect. I arrived early again and I am glad I did. While I was first in the park on a Monday morning there were several hikers and photographers appearing within a couple of hours. When I left about 11:30 am there were more than forty cars in the lot. I was here today to photograph waterfalls. I picked my spot and stayed there for a couple of hours.
It had been raining for several days and more was headed there later in the day. The sun was out this morning (lucky me) but the tree canopy was too thick to have the sun peek through. After the 3/4 mile flat trail ends you start climbing rock stairs ascending up the mountain. The trail is a little more challenging as it skirts the edge and the once flat terrain turns into a deeper gorge beside the trail. The water finds it way down the side of the mountain through this gouge creating the waterfalls.
Once you find an area that looks promising then you find a way to descend into the area below. I am not the most nimble anymore so my steps have to be careful as the rocks are wet and mossey from the spring moss growth. I seemed to overpack every time. This time I brought 2 cameras two tripods and lenses, bags....etc.... Word to the wise, don't over pack like me. I always think I am going to miss something if I don't have the right (fill in the blank) with me. I packed about 40 pounds and should have kept it to the necessities. It took me 6 months to make it make here and I will come back again...said a wise man.
I will get the tech specs out of the way here. I have a Canon 5DMK IV sitting on a Really Right Stuff ball head sitting on a ProMediaGear Series 34 - 71" 4 Long Section Carbon Fiber Tripod. The Camera has a Really Right Stuff right angle bracket for quickly going from landscape to portrait. I am using a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens. I have a 82mm circular polarizer filter attached to the lens. This filter helps take the glare or blown out highlights of the water. I also have a Tiffen 4x4 Neutral Density 3 stop filter clipped on to the lens. The ND filter allows the camera to elongate exposures to soften the water. The exposures below are noted in the Adobe Lightroom metadata here.
Composition Anatomy
As you can see above I have the tripod and camera set as low as I can without water splashing on the lens. The reason for getting low is to bring into focus the foreground within a few feet to infinity. This is what is important to a good photo composition. Not everyone goes to the trouble of taking in beautiful nature and settings, but my passion is taking my viewers there through my photographs. When I enlarge this photo to 5 feet or more wide and you stand close enough to fill your peripheral vision, it will feel like you are there minus the sounds and smells. I have always been attracted to larger than life sculptures like Calder, Henri Moore and Chihuly Glass. My all time favorite larger than life painters are Wilson Hurley Frederic Edwin Church. .....and my favorite larger than life photographer is Peter Lik. I was stunned when I went to his gallery of massive size photos and their crisp clarity.
Color Version
Color photographs are different than black and white photographs. Your eye and brain have to process more in a color photograph. Light tones and colors attract your eye along with movements of leading lines in photos. In this color photograph, the light tones and leading lines of the rocks from the left lead your eye to the middle. The reason is we read photos like we read a book left to right. While the lightest green color is the sunlight in the trees at the top of the photo, your eye stays in the middle as the big boulders cleverly arranged as arrows pointing at the white waterfall. Lichen spots on the rocks don't bother me as far as a composition and my eye moves right past to the center. Being in the moment of setting up a photos on location I never take the time to analyze what I just said above. When I set up a photo I just go with my gut feeling of what looks good. I did not see the the big boulders pointing to the center until i started analyzing what made me take the photo. I probably took 30 different setups along the river like this that morning but it wasn't until I stared at it in Lightroom processing that I kept coming back to this one. All in all there are 2 two dominate colors of green hues and grey hues. I see this as one of my best on this morning.
Black and White Version
Black and White photos are more personal to some people. To me they are the art of the composition. Art has always been a feeling to me. How I feel looking at the black and white composition. This is a very busy composition in a dark location but the one waterfall in the center is the focus. The leading lines I spoke of in the color version doesn't work for me in this B&W version. It stands on its own merit as a good B&W composition. I hope you have enjoyed my inner thoughts and personal descriptions of the area. Feel free to email me or leave your comments below. Safe travels.
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Angie, Elvis and I traveled down to Galveston from Houston last Sunday. We are in Houston for the week glamping in the RV. The locals had said this was the second cold snap this year and apologised for the bad weather. As long as it was cool we were happy.
Some people like the mountains and others like the ocean. I think we were split. Angie and I like the mountains and Elvis liked the soft deep sand under his feet. Had he felt a 100 degree day of heat with his long hair he may have wanted to stay in the comfort of the air conditioned truck.
It was very cloudy in Galveston this day. We had planned to see the strand, a couple of old hotels and of course.....the 61st street Fishing Pier.
The strand had just been through Mardi Gras the weekend before. Little did we know the strand would take 4 hour to traverse when we got there.
Our first stop was a sidewalk cafe called the Gumbo Bar. It was good. We got seafood Gumbo and char broiled oysters. Gumbo is like good chili as its takes a long time to prepare and cook so all the ingredients can all marry together. Food was good and now we off to the strand.
We had to park 4 or 5 blocks away from the strand as this is the general location where all the cruise ships dock, clean and get the next captured victims aboard. Angie and I were talking about how many times we were stopped with Elvis before we got to the strand. (Now, this is my observation from the strand walk.) Our world is in a mess as everyone is very protective of their personal space, their identity and their conversations. Elvis our standard poodle is a visual conversation. He is trained and invites conversations as he calmly stands or sits and allows strangers around him to talk to him and have their photo taken with him. He brings strangers together for a quick happy conversation about him and their dog. I can't begin to tell you how many times we were stopped and asked about him. Those that don't stop us, whipped out their camera phone for a quick photo of Elvis as we walked by. I even caught people slowing down in their cars and taking photos. My point of this rambling about a dog is we would have never even known all those people could/would talk or share feelings. A dog enabled all these people to let down there public shield to share their feelings. A dog changed their disposition for a short time and I bet they talked to their family and friends about Elvis and proudly showed the photos they took of him. We humans need more genuine moments like this everyday to get back into building public trust in each other. This showed us that the public is starving for good honest and wholesome conversations.
The fishing pier was our final stop as the strand was exhausting but the reward was great. It was incredibly cloudy at the beach, so much so that you couldn't see past the fishing pier. You could hear things in the distance beyond the fog wall but that was it. The waves would just appear from the fog and roll into the shore. My off-the-wall thinking could imagine a big wave machine tucked into the fog wall producing the steady waves as a part of the carnival atmosphere. We played with Elvis (his first beach) in the sand for awhile and Angie and Elvis went back to the truck while I got the camera backpack and tripod out to take a few photos.
When I get serious about taking photos of what I have envisioned, time stands still. We all want something in our lives that we are so engrossed with that we spend hours when it seems like minutes. Once I got my tripod out to a safe distance into the water, I started just looking at the best angles. Since there was no sun, it was hard to find the right combination of photo techniques to use. Ever been out working and feel like you are being watched? After what felt like minutes which must have been longer, I turned around and probably startled the 4 people standing 25 feet behind me whispering. All kidding aside I am the worst at watching people. We all want to learn and I stare the same way.
The image is an HDR combination. HDR takes muliple images. They have to be registered meaning you cannot move your tripod while shooting. I took several 3 shot combinations of varying shutter speeds. It's a good thing I did because the pier moved with the ocean waves. There was a sway motion which showed up once I sat down and started editing.
I use Photomatix 6.0 to sandwich the photo sets together and do the photo editing in Abobe Lightroom. Hope you enjoyed the story.
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When I am driving in the country, I can find a place to photograph most anywhere. That's why I only do this when I am driving by myself. It makes for a tedious trip when others are in the truck with me as I am always looking at both side of the road because I don't want to miss anything. I stop and slow down and start again. Take this old house above. Most everyone would love to see it torn down and hauled off. I see someone's memories. I picture families pioneering and scratching to make a living in hopes of making sure their children don't grow like they did. (Or....its's just an old deer camp lean-to that hunters threw together to to keep the varmits out of their lap. I like the first idea.)
It takes decades for these live oaks to make their way and take root through the porch and roof to make a photograph like this tell a story.
This is an HDR image comprised of 3 photographs with 2 stop differences in shutter speeds. The aperture or f-stop is f11 which means these were long exposure photographs. HDR photographs are always setup and shot from a tripod so the registration is precise. Once the 3 images are sandwiched together into one photo then the fun begins. This is when the image comes to life with Adobe Lightroom. I use the full set of tools within Lightroom to make the texture and color. Once i am happy with the look and feel then I crop the total image into a "readable" image.
We "read" photos like we read a book. Once we see the artist's focus point, our eyes start reading right then back and fourth. Art and photos we like or dislike give us a "feeling". The visual positive "feelings" give us comfort like our favorite music. If that feeling is strong enough, we want to buy that art so we can walk past it on our walls in our home or office to give a calmness for our life.
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I had never taken a location photography class until this class with Matt Suess (www.mattsuess.com). If you ever had the opportunity to hire a fishing or hunting guide this is the same idea except with location photography. While Matt had photographed Zion NP for 8 years he arrived a couple of days ahead of the class to put his possible 18-hour days itinerary together. He had sunrise, sunset and night images placed and the 18 hour days were real. (never drove myself to work that hard).
I highly recommend taking an organized class and especially Matt's. He is a great teacher of not only your majestic surroundings but placing the right technique to capture a masterpiece for your collection. http://mattsuess.com/photography-workshops
At my age its not often that there are others older than me but other than Matt I was the YOUNGEST in the group and it was a struggle to keep up with these very fit guys! From left to right is Rich, Ward, Ernie, Matt and Mike. In geographic order we were from Florida, Colorado, Texas, Montana and Tennessee.
It is great to share ideas and critiques because that is how we grow. Yes, even at our age we learn and grow in artistic perspectives and talent. We should all strive to learn something new everyday. I am thankful for sharing time and thoughts with these men. I am a better photographer after Matt's class.
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The above photos were taken from above and below of the same location at Cedar Falls in Petit Jean State Park at different times of the year. The photo on the left is late November and the fall color is still hanging on since this years freeze is late. The photo on the right was taken late spring of this year and the water fall is active from the spring rains. The sun is out as well and the rock colors are different as the sun really warms the color of the rock. The photo on the left was taken yesterday and it was very overcast and misting rain. This is a "hollar" as the locals call it. The trail head to the falls is a 1.1 mile moderate trail and very scenic along the way especially when the water is running making for lots of great photos. The photo on the right has a couple sitting behind the falls.
This photo is taken a couple of miles west of the falls and this is where the canyon walls open to the valley where Dardanelle is located NW @ 15 miles. Love the colors as the mix of evergreens and rust colors wash the canyon walls.
Angie, Elvis and I drove to Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with Joni, Caleb and Braxton. Today (Monday) was a photo day so I researched Ozark National Forest as I had photographed the eastern side near Buffalo Area near Pedstal Rock and Whitaker Point (Hawksbill). This time I went to the Haw Creek area about 15 miles west of Pelsor.
Still a lot of great color this time of the year.
I learned a lot about polarizing, 10 stop neutral density and graduated filters from Matt Suess in Zion National Park. I put some of the long exposures techniques to use on this crisp morning. I normally like to use HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos but using filters tends to be more difficult and results in a lot of "hit and miss" photos. Once the exposure is zeroed in then you try different apertures and shutter speeds to get the likable results.
I also use Abobe Lightroom for my cataloging and photo refinement. I have found once you do your normal development I use the Hue, Saturation and Luminance to bring out the fall colors.
I also made a couple of virtual realities with my Google Cardboard camera software on my LG V10 android phone. I highly recommend getting familiar with the Google VR technique as it is a "poor man's" virtual reality gimmick. Before long it will be a full motion interaction as fast as the technology is moving.
Here are the 2 VR's . One and Two
May God Bless you and yours as I have been blessed for this Thanksgiving week!
(Interviewing for Santa Claus)
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What a hike yesterday morning. I am writing this Sunday morning as I am driving from Springdale to Salt Lake City when I finish. SLC is 4.5 hours away. The Canyon Overlook is a moderate hike in the Zion Rangers terms. In old man terms it seemed like a death march. As we were climbing up at 5 am Matt Suess told us it was a good thing we couldn't see to the left as we probably would not have liked what we saw. Our headlamps only lit what was in front of our feet. As you can see in the photo above the view was incredible. The wind was whipping through the viewpoint. I took this VR from a little ways back from the edge to show how many people were there once the sun came up. The photo below is what the view looked like before and after the sun lit the canyon.
Here is a VR about halfway down the desent from the top. Matt had everyone view a sunlit top of a canyon wall. This was my view VR of where we were.
We next went to the same place where we did the milky way shots a couple of night before. The photo below was a close area of where I was standing so you can see the different looks from night to day.
Here is the VR I took of this area.
All in all I highly recommend Zion National Park. I have only showed a few of the thousands of photos I really took. The park has many more day trails and hikes that we merely just hit the high points. If you are physically up to a 7 to 10 day exploration then I highly recommend this park. It is a huge park and you really need days to discover.
If you are a photographer then I also recommend Matt Suess www.mattsuess.com to get you the best photos you can take. HE had a very precise schedule of places, time and sun placement for every hour of each day. He has traveled this park for many years and knows it well. I am planning a trip with Matt in June 2017 in the Grand Tetons which I am really looking forward to.
One last VR of my room. I guess I was very sleep drunk to include as every muscle in my body ached from the miles of hiking each day.
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We left early again to get to this spot called Court of the Patriarchs. There were probably 40 photographers lining the banks and even in the river to my left. Remember this is the 100 year anniversary of the United States National Parks. Matt Suess has been photographing Zion for years and knows the best times and places were the traffic to be best for shooting. We (5 of us) were all within arms distance of each other clinging to the side of the river bank. The VR is here.
Due to the time as it is 3:30 am and we are meeting at 5 am this morning I will not be a wordy as the other days.
Here are the next two VR's.
We ended the day back at The Watchman. Matt took us to another location and ask us to find our own framing for our own creation in capturing the area. Here is the VR of this location and the photo below.
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Wow! What a day! Remember I am in a Zion photography class with 3 other students and Matt Suess the master teacher. We met at 5:30 am and headed to our first spot to get started. The first VR is here.
Since I did not record the locations of the next several spots I will stack up the next VR's.
There are so many incredible locations to photograph like this canyon.
One of the most famous locations to photograph at Zion is the Watchmen Tower. It is a very tall presence as you enter the park. The park entrance, campgrounds and and the edge of the town of Springdale lay at its base. We parked on the side of the road in a turn out to hike back to a river that runs toward it for a great photo location.
VR Location here.
VR River location here.
The last location of the night was another famous Zion must have photo. By this time we are all exhausted but Matt promised we would like this effect. I had never done any night photography like this before. It involves the Milky Way which we had a phone app to find it called SkyView. This area is a lone peak about 75 feet tall with one lone Pinion Tree that sits on its top. This night photography technique is very difficult to master in total darkness on rocky terrain while being on the edge of cliffs. Matt brought some portable lights to give the peak some color. I am not totally happy with my first attempts I plan on working the talent till I am happy. The technical settings for something like this is ISO 8000 and a 3.5 opening with a 20 second exposure. Lots of fun!!
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This day four started early. The day before while headed to Bryce Canyon through Zion I had seen several photographers were lined across a bridge waiting for the sunrise to hit a certain spot on Watchmen cliffs. I was determined to get there early and stake my spot. Well as it turned out the throngs of photographers were not there and I pretty much had it to myself. It was a very colorful site with a sizable river under the bridge and made a soothing sound that I could sleep by. I waited two hours to get the shot I felt was best. Here is the that shot and the VR is here.
I took the morning off after this morning shoot to catch up on editing photos. I had read quit a few blogs about the Kolob Canyon Drive. It is only 12 miles with turnout vista points every 200 hundred yards or so. The photo at the top of this article was the end of the 12 mile trail. It is called Timber Trail overlook. The VR of this point is here.
Starting today at 5 pm I am taking a class with Matt Suess. Matt is the reason I am here. He is an expert of the area with Utah, Arizona and Montana (Tetons and Yellowstone). I took a class several months ago with him on a software package called On1 in Dallas and liked his approach to teaching and his zest for photography. I will be in his class until Sunday. I have a four hour drive to SLC to catch a flight back home at 3 pm. Matt's site is www.mattsuess.com
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Day 3 three started with an early morning car drive through Zion in route to Bryce Canyon. I was eager to get to see Zion in the light as I came in the night before. You just can't help but just stare as the light washed the rocks and brings out the color. I think this was the first turnout I could get to here. The differnce here in southern Utah form say the Grand Canyon is everything is looking up at color. You almost feel like walking anywhere and everywhere (not me...62 and a bum knee) cause its all accessible from the well paved roads. The GC is walking around a whole in the ground and looking down inward. In the next paragraph I will explain the hole in the ground called Bryce Canyon. This VR is exiting Zion in route to Bryce Canyon. This is a two hour drive which I turned into a 3 hour drive stopping many times to take photos along the way. Exit Zion here.
I pulled over within a half hour as a colorful canyon caught caught my eye back to the east. Here is the quick stop VR. It was fools gold compared to Bryce Canyon but I was a kid in a candy shop by this time. The next was Orderville. Small town but on my way out I noticed a small sign pointing up the dirt road that the the local Little League Field. I passed it and the little voice in my head said "Go Back". While it was a little rough to look at I quickly ran to home plate and took the next VR. The view from home plate looking out to those massive mountains would distract me. It would have been a great backdrop for Uncle Rico to brag about throwing a (in this case) baseball over those mountains. Here is the view.
Bryce Canyon is incredible. Since I dilly-dallied to get here it put me in a bind for sun as I had decided to spend sunset at Cedar Breaks National Monument. I only got a third of the way into Bryce. I am so impressed with the national parks in Utah!! Bryce is so easy to drive and walk. It is like walking around the GC but not as deep and different colors. The first two stop were Sunrise Point and Sunset Point. Each one has its strengths for viewing. View #1 for Sunrise point is here. View #2 is here. View for Sunset Point is here. Bryce Point is a heart thumping walk up. I did not make it to the very top cause my heart was pounding and little kids passed me effortlessly so I took the quickest view point to save my pride. Here is where I chose to make this VR. I was feeling kinda rushed and almost went right by the last turn off call Paria Point. Glad I stopped here cause the view did not disappoint. The VR is here. Off to the next park.
Cedar Breaks National Monument is a small park but is has a summit point that sits at 10,333 feet elevation and it is breathtaking view for a sunset. I had done some studying and reading of photographing the area and Cedar Breaks was mentioned several times. I had the point to myself except for a view drive by tourists. The image at he top is the sunset result. Oh did I mentioned it was 38 degrees!! No gloves, no coat, but I had the will power to stick it out. When I got back in the car to leave there was a herd of mule deer that I could have petted they were so close. VR is here. This was an 18 day for me and I was exhausted hence being late on posting. Day 4 next.
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This Sunday morning started with an early breakfast at Park Cafe directly across from the Liberty Public Park. I did not create any VR's today as I had a tight morning and then a five hour drive south to Springdale in Zion National Park. We focused our efforts documenting some incredible homes/public buildings/churches along C Street East. I always notice the architecture in cities I visit as it is a marvel in local resources. In this case, the granite work is incredible. This city is so clean. The houses along this street are just a sample of the whole city. The two non-LDS churches in this general area are the First Presbyterian the Catholic Cathedral of Madeleine. We ended this morning with a stop at the state capitol.
Don't have a plan for tomorrow just yet but will be doing some research here shortly. In the mean time, check the gallery of the buildings along C Street East here.
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We then took out walking down to the lake. There was a really cool big rock non-pedestrian dam on the southern end. The VR at the lake level is here.
We then drove into Park City then on to the Brighton Ski area. This next VR is taken at the Big Cottonwood area. Luke had told me he had parked his Burnt Orange FJ Crusier (Texas Boy loves UT but went to University of Utah to be a Park Ranger) at this spot and took off down this hill on his skies. He proclaimed "Big Mistake" as he had to hike back up. The VR is here.
We left and drove to Big Silver Lake which is in the middle of a bog. They built a raised pathway around the small lake that you walk around. We stopped on the pier and took this next VR here.
Before sundown Luke took me up to the the mountains behind University of Utah. This day was the NCAA Gameday location vs. Washington. The town was alive and in the next VR you can see the neon lights on at the stadium. This VR is overlooking the city of Salt Lake City. To the right of the sunset you can see Great Salt Lake. The sunset VR is here.
Be sure and let me know if you are successfully seeing the VR's
On to Springdale tomorrow. I am going to use the area as a base for a couple of days before the workshop starts on Wednesday.
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This is an example of VR (Virtual Reality) on an inexpensive cardboard device. I am going to help you experience visual/sound on my trip. First, you will need Google Cardboard Glasses which I showed you in my LIVE FB video. Go to Amazon and search "Google Cardboard Glasses" and you will find an array of glasses to choose from. Order a pair. They are cheap ($7 range) and if you are a Prime Member you can get them in a day. You will next need to download the Google Cardboard app and Google Camera from the Google Play Store or the IPhone App store. At this point you may want to go to Google and search "How to use Google Cardboard" or click here. Watch how-to and setup/use to make your own VR files. Once you have installed the apps you "click" on the files I post throughout my trip.
You can view the file on your device that the app is installed on after you insert into Google Cardboard Googles. Now you and see and hear the experience. You can only "see/hear" what you have created with your phone or pad using a Google Cardboard device.
For future reference I will post the links to this blog on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and refer back to this blog post on how to get started. If you like this blog format you may want to join the RSS feed to be notified when new material appears. Once you get the hang of the app and the Google Glasses you can create your own for family and friends. Use your Android Phone/IPhone/IPad to access my start up demo file here which I captured at Petit Jean Falls in Arkansas. The finished photo above was created from this trip. As you can see from the VR it was a hectic day with lots of people and noise.
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