Christmas card

Fortunately, it didn't go out as late as this post:

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I'm still trying to get back in the swing of things.

Catching up

After a great trip to Long Pool, I made a trip to Cedar Falls at nearby Petit Jean State park. It's a beautiful mountain that I've made regular motorcycle trips to (great roads!), but I've not explored the park like I should have.

I made the hike down to the falls early on a Sunday morning and spent some time reflecting on the beauty of the area. It really amazes me how blessed we are at all the natural beauty in this state, and how much we take it for granted.

Some of my images:

Stopped at the overlook near the Petit Jean grave site just to take in the sunrise overlooking Ada Valley and the Arkansas River. Got some nice golden rays, but would have liked something a little stronger. Maybe a model standing on the rock for a reference? Something to go back and explore.

The hike down to the falls was about a mile and a half, and was fairly rocky. Not as easy as I had expected, but definitely well worth the trip. Didn't break anything going up or down, but I did rip my pants on the way down. Hoped I wouldn't bump into anyone else down there, but of course, it was crawling with people. Had to choose my shooting position very carefully, lest I show a little too much!

















Overall, it was a great day. Spent a couple of hours wandering around enjoying the view. I'll definitely be returning for more.

Longpool falls

Had a chance to go with a co-worker, who is also a pretty talented photographer, to an area north of Russellville to photograph the Longpool area. It's located on the Big Piney River, a popular area for kayaking and canoeing. We actually did a short hike to reach the falls, which actually aren't on the river but feed into the Piney.

Due to its location (the falls are located in a small "valley" which shields the area from direct sunlight for much of the morning) we were able to shoot about four hours before we finally decided we were out of gas.

The first location are twin falls, approximately 8-10 feet tall, which provided tons of photo opportunities as the water snaked its way past and through a rocky creek bed. Hiking further past those falls, we were treated to a waterfall that was probably 35-40 feet tall on its own. It was a little tougher to access, with the creek banks lined with larger rocks that were steeply angled, giving you very little footing and making positioning difficult. However, a little effort paid off with some nice photos.

It always amazes me how beautiful this state is. There are some gorgeous vistas right now with fall approaching, and colors that would rival those found anywhere else in the nation.

I stink at this stuff . . .

So, it's been over a year (more like a year and a half) since I've posted anything on here. I should be a little more active, but it's been on the back burner for a while. However, as I begin to contemplate where I am and what I want to be when I grow up, it might be good to get some of my work out where people can see it.

At any rate, I took a photo of myself yesterday with my new glasses. Not that I'm narcissistic, but it is a photo I have taken lately that I kinda like. More to come.

Shooting in the dark

Man, the planetarium was dark.

"I can turn the lights up a little bit," Scott said.

Which led us to the end result. I put the camera on a tripod to allow for a long enough exposure to let the existing light bleed through (the red area in the background). I lit the subject with one shoe mount flash in an umbrella and one with a blue gel on the projector.

I really wasn't expecting much, and was pleasantly suprised with end result. I won't show the out of focus ones, though.

Fashion stuff

I threw a couple of these up on my Flickr page and thought I would add some here, too. These are a couple of recent fashion shoots I did for a local magazine.

The first shot was taken in downtown Conway, using the wall of a building that was shaded from the sun. The building next to it - bathed in full sun - had a white wall, which was a really cool reflector for the model. It really made for some great lighting.

The next shot was taken at a strip mall, which didn't necessarily lend itself to a great background for the shot. But, I backed off and used a long lens to compress the shops, and let the lighting coming in from behind the model and bounce off the glass surfaces. It really seemed to help the shot.

The models really made the shots, though. They both seemed to know what I wanted to accomplish and did really well in helping me capture that.

Snow day!

The kids were happy to be home from school, but Sarah was a little disappointed that the snow was too dry to make a snowman. It didn't stop her from making a snow angel, though.

After that, we did decide that the snow held together well enough for a snowball fight. We ducked behind the cars and chased each other around our little front yard until I lobbed one at her, and scored a direct hit to her head.

We pretty much were done with the snow after that. It had stopped falling by that point, anyway. With typical Arkansas weather patterns, the white stuff will probably be gone by the end of the day, anyway. This after seeing temperatures in the 70s over the weekend, to boot.

Got one more shot, this time of the snow that had accumulated on my wife's Mustang. I thought it was kinda neat.


EDIT: Mission accomplished! When the snow began to melt, it made for much better snowman making.