It’s been a while, so I thought I’d share a photo with everyone. This one has been collecting dust on my hard drive for about a year now.

I photographed this sunset on a small outing with a friend who shares a mutual interest in photography. We headed to a spot that I frequent quite often, Flatside Pinnacle.

This place is so close to home that it’s been my stomping grounds for a while now. Anytime I’m itching to do some short notice photography, this is where I head.

This particular evening was magical, to say the least, we arrived to find the sky absolutely covered with clouds. We were a bit dismayed by the atmosphere, but decided to hike up the pinnacle anyways. Even with the bleak atmosphere the view is still pretty incredible.

When we reached the top we were greeted by a break in the clouds, just as the sun was setting. I’m not sure what made the atmosphere such a purpley color, but it sure did make for some outstanding photographs of Flatside Pinnacle.

Hope you enjoy this one. This one has been sitting on my hard drive for almost a year now, taken last September.

Ah, Flatside.

I was asked by Windy a while back if this was my favorite place to shoot and I quickly dismissed it. However, I’m beginning to have doubts whether or not that is the case. Flatside is definitely a favorite of mine for shooting sunsets. Even more so since it is such an awesome location and not too far from home.

I recently purchased a couple of things for my camera and wanted to try out the new wide angle lens I got. I must say, I’m really excited about the possibilities that this lens is going to give me. After reviewing my shots from Flatside on this recent trip, I’m also very pleased with the results.

I got in touch with Windy on Tuesday morning regarding a possible trip up to Flatside. I told her that if the clouds looked cool in the afternoon that we should head up there. Later that day, around 3 or so, I messaged her because the clouds were looking good. That’s one bonus about this location, it gives you the opportunity to judge the sky before you leave, because it is so close to home.

_{Flatside Wilderness Sunset}

The drive for Windy is about an hour and it’s about the same for me. So, Caden and I left around 3:20 for Perryville to meet up with Windy for some Flatside Pinnacle stomp’n.

We arrived at Flatside around 4:30. At the pull off there was still a lot of snow left from the previous week and it kind of got me excited about the possibility of snow at the top. Unfortunately, I didn’t consider the amount of snow that may be on the trail on the way up, and there was still quite a bit! Needless to say, we were slipping and sliding all the way to the summit of Flatside Pinnacle. We didn’t think about it at the time, but when we were leaving we would have to slide all the way down the backside of the mountain until it leveled off again.

That made for some fun times and an interesting story…

Halfway down the mountain Windy calls out to us to, “check out this print! it’s definitely NOT human!” Of course, being the biology/environmentalist devotee that she is, Caden came sliding down the hill quickly to check out the aforementioned unidentifiable “animal” track. Caden’s face lit up with excitement as she saw the print and called over to me to come check it out, also stating that it definitely wasn’t a hand-print.

_{Flatside Pinnacle Sunset}

Ok, I thought. If they have no idea what it is, this must be pretty exciting, I gotta check it out. I shuffled over the ice and snow to where Windy and Caden were looking down on this unexplainable print and quickly said… it’s a chupacabra track!

Funny enough, we were just talking about chupacabra’s earlier on top of the summit. The subject came up because of a conversation Matt Kennedy and I had a couple of days earlier, regarding chupacabras.

However, this was not a chupacabra track at all. I quickly realized what it was and put my hand in the exact same position as the unfortunate soul who had previously fallen in the ice and snow while summiting the formidable Flatside Pinnacle. They both released a sigh of dismay. I found it slightly humorous that they were both hoping it was in fact a chupacabra track…

With that behind us we continued down the pinnacle with our hopes high that we were not being followed by chupacabra’s.

Thank goodness?

Check out Windy’s awesome photography over at her blog: Windy Richardson Photography

Carpe Diem!

Saturday morning was an interesting one, for sure.

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Photographer Matt Kennedy}

Matt Kennedy called me the night before asking if I’d like to go with him and Clay Wells out to Flatside Pinnacle for some moonset and sunrise photos. I’m never one to pass up a photography expedition invite, so I said yes. Of course, the subjects we were photographing would require us to wake up really early.

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Moonset}

When I work, I work till midnight. Friday night, I worked. I got off work and headed home for some sleep before having to wake up at 4:45 Saturday morning. Saturday was an OK day to shoot at Flatside Pinnacle. There weren’t many clouds, but there was a little fog. The conditions we were looking for were tons of fog in the valleys and clouds in the sky, but we were a bit disappointed to find neither.

_{Flatside Pinnacle – HDR}

_{Flatside Pinnacle – HDR}

Even without those perfect conditions you do what you can and take the shots. So, we all set up and prepared ourselves for the sunrise. Without the clouds and the fog, I think it still turned out awesome. We all moved around to the southwest side of Flatside and found a good vantage point to view the rising sun. From the southwest side of Flatside Pinnacle you can see Lake Maumelle which, from that vantage point, the sun rises directly over.

Along for the trip this time was Clay Wells, a great photographer. He decided to meet Matt and I up at the summit for the shooting that day. This was the first trip that I’ve taken with him and it was nice to shoot with, and meet, another photographer from the Central Arkansas area.

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Forked Mountain with Fog}

After the sun completely rose over the horizon, we shot the shadows created by the Ouchitas. I’ve never been to Flatside Pinnacle for a sunrise before, looking at the view during sunrise was a completely different experience. The way the light falls on everything is simply majestic. The sole purpose of this trip was to try and get the views with clouds beneath and above us, therefore the sole purpose was ruined, however the simple light play with the shadows that the mountains create was a great experience in it’s own right.

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Perspective}

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Above shot taken this time last year at sunset}

I set up for a couple of panoramas which you can view below. The first is looking southwest towards Little Rock, with the sun rising. The second is after the sun had already risen over the horizon, but as it was still creating interesting light on the Ouchita foothills.

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Looking towards Little Rock Panorama}

Photography by Zack Andrews – Panoramas – Click Flatside Pinnacle after the jump

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Forked Mountain with Fog Panorama}

Photography by Zack Andrews – Panoramas – Click Flatside Pinnacle after the jump

The rest of the photos are my artsy detail shots that I like to take on my photography expeditions, enjoy!

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Sunrise through the trees}

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Warming the dead}

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Rock Detail}

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Who put that there?!}

Last but not least, one of my favorite shots from the day. Ironic, that it was taken not on Flatside Pinnacle itself, but on Brown’s Creek which runs by the road on the way there.

_{Flatside Pinnacle – Autumn is Drawing Nigh}