Wow, we had an awesome day.
It all began at 8:00AM with a meeting at the Conway I-40 Carpool. The group for today was Caden, Tamami, Matt, and Brian. We left from the carpool area and headed up towards Jasper, in Newton County, Arkansas.
We all hit it off pretty well which led to us talking all the way up highway 7. Unfortunately, our conversation was interrupted with blue lights right before Dover. We were doing 60 mph. However, there is a hill right after the Sonic there and I was talking and not paying attention to my speed. So, with 5 people in the Lincoln, we picked up speed and were plowing down highway 7 near Dover at 72 mph… in a 55 mph zone. Doh!
So of course, everyone is sitting there, nervous and talking. The cop comes up to the window and asks, where are you guys heading today? You know, the typical police officer small talk, and my response was: Well, we’re gonna go shoot waterfalls!
The officer perked up and I saw his eyes light up and immediately caught myself and quickly said, Photography! Which we all had a laugh about after it was all said and done. The officer took all of our id’s and checked us out. Eventually, coming back to the vehicle with a citation for unsafe driving. Thank goodness he was having a good day, because that would have been a really bad speeding ticket.
We all had a good laugh about my shooting waterfalls tongue slip, which at one point someone made a comment about how they were glad that I didn’t mention my canon in the back of the car and how we would be shooting waterfalls with it later in the day, haha.
So, with the unsafe driving citation in hand we took off for Hammerschmidt falls. A quite large waterfall located on Highway 74 near Jasper, Arkansas. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as many shots of it as I would have liked, but the one that I did get turned out pretty good.
There were quite a few cascades above Hammerschmidt that I took photos of as well. ( See if you can spot Brian Cormack =D )
Leaving Hammerschmidt Falls we headed for Steel Creek, in my opinion one of the most beautiful areas of the Buffalo River.
The point where Steele Creek entered the Buffalo River was also an interesting little place. The atmosphere of the creek felt like a small tropical forest smack dab in the middle of Ozarks.
Lost Valley was the last stop for the day.
Apparently, everyone else in Arkansas thought it would be their last stop as well. Everyone including their grandmother was there, an interesting sight for Caden and I who are used to visiting these locations during the middle of the week and always finding them deserted.
Lost Valley looked completely different from the way it did last year. The ice damage over this past winter was bad for a huge part of the Ozarks and hit a lot of the trees pretty hard. The good new is, a lot of the trees which got a late start this spring are now green with leaves and the highway 7 road past pelsor is a lot more lush than it was before.
There was plenty of water to go around after all the rain we have had recently, so it was a good day for waterfall photography. The day was cloudy as well so it was perfect for long exposure shots. It could have been, quite possibly, the best day for photography in the past year for Lost Valley!
Don’t take my word for it though, check out the shots from Lost Valley.
On the way out, we followed the trail to another small cascade, and the last one for the trip to Lost Valley.
Last, but not least, a couple of shots of everyone who went on the trip today.
Brian Cormack & Tamami Akagi
Tamami Akagi & Caden Summers
Caden Summers & Tamami Akagi
And the elusive creature Matt Kennedy. Seriously, the only shot I got, and it was blurry! This kid is always moving! =)
It was a great day spent with a couple of awesome photographers. I’m looking forward to future outings and hopefully they will be sooner than later.
Great shots, they look neat in that wide format you’re using. Although I’m not too sure about the shot of me up there with Tamami – I look like I’m picking my nose.
And good shot of the elusive Matt, not suprising that it’s a blur.
Really great photos. Warm colors. I recognize Eden Falls in Lost Valley. You can tell by the water flow we’ve had lots of rain. It’s a good time to be taking photos up on the Buffalo.
Glad to see you guys got up here for the great waterfall flows we are having right now. Since the first of May it has rained almost every day. It even rained last night, although the radar didn’t show much. Unless you live here and can go right after a rain, the flow right now is about as good as you will see.
If you are interested in keeping up on what is going on in the Ponca/Lost Valley/ Smith Creek et al area, check out my website, http://arkansaswildlifephotography.com. I put it together for photographers to be of assistance in timing what is going on here. It can be very helpful for fall color and the annual elk rut and all.
Michael Dougherty
Compton, Arkansas
Nah, Brian, you’re just wiping a tear from your eye. You just couldn’t believe how beautiful Hammerschmidt Falls were, lol.
Tom, indeed, it is a great time to be up at the Buffalo, there were a lot of people floating it that day. I’m sure that would have been a lot of fun as well.
dang you caught me. I was trying my best to stay away from that Canon of yours, I didn’t want to get shot. You never know when that thing could just go off.