While the big cascades there are pretty nice, I have always loved the smooth boulders - it cost me hundreds in film and processing when I used to shoot there with a 4x5 - there is just no end to the compositions all around you. I spent a couple of hours there yesterday with my swollen foot in the cool waters, playing with a new vari-ND filter that works wonders on a scene like this that was in bright sunshine (I was making 6-second exposures).
The softness of the weathered boulders really is quite striking, Tim. I like this color shot, but could also see spending hours working with contrasting tones and textures for a few black and white images. No telling what kind of shapes and figures you could imagine around there! Neat place!
Yup, the last photo I published of the rock detail was in BW - but there is so much color in the rocks you really hate to. There are always piles of new polished stones of all colors here as well, and right now there are even more of them with recent floods. And just below the low end of all this is one of the very finest swimming holes in the United States - deep emerald pools with large smooth boulders for jumping off of with gravel bars along the side and fresh water feeding it all the time - even in the hot dry days of summer.
Those rocks are quite soft, but you should see this at full res - the detail is amazing, and that back produces such smooth detail to begin with.
This drop is called the washing machine Tim. The boulder in the middle is called cannonball. In my early days of kayaking I got off balance one day going down this one. I flipped and hit cannonball dead on. When I went to roll my kayak I set up and raised my paddle only to find out cannonball had busted it into 2 pieces!! Next thing ya know was it was time for a little swim. I have alot on memories from the "tot"
I've got lots of washing machine images, including one like the classic Terry Keefe photo with nothing but a hand sticking out of there - you guys are nuts! This is the first time I had photographed it from water level (me and my tripod were in about four feet of water) - normally hang out up on the rock like all the rest of the seals...
It's alot of fun and this is a great place to shoot on the falls. I have been itching to go down and camp out and shoot there. I want a little more water though. The tot actually comes up more often than alot of AR steams. The timber cutting really helps it pop up with out as much rain.
I'll have to tell you my story some time - about the night I camped there with a group of nudist trail volunteers, and we got a visit from the Foucke Monster - really. It creeps me out to this day...
Yes. At $350 I resisted for years, but I figured I needed to have one to play with. It won't make a gold brick out of a sow's ear - you still have to select your lighting situations carefully - but it will allow you to make a good photograph sometimes when it would have been impossible before.
Tim, the low position of the camera accentuates the height of the boulders nicely. And you've done a great job of maintaining detail in the shadows. Excellent shot.
On my last trip to Arkansas, I took my dog, Maggie, down to the Cossatot and explored the area with my mouth agape. I had never been down to the 'Tot, but I was quite amazed at the colors and textures of everything. It was mid-day, and I didn't do any shooting. That trip got me thinking about a Vari-X ND filter. This image has convinced me that I need one.
Looks like a special place Tim. I can see how one could spend hours photographing the intimate scenes within the scene. I've been trying to convince myself that I could find enough to do with the vari-ND to make it worth the price. Your shot gets me one step closer.
It is one of those deals Wayne that if you have it you will find uses for it, if you don't have it you can probably live without, as I have done now for 33 years. I went to find this particular scene specifically to use the filter - otherwise I would not have bothered in the middle of a bright sunny day. Later that day I was standing at the edge of a lake photographing sunset and used the filter again to smooth out the waves - something I would have never even thought of had I not had the filter in the bag.
Discussion
12 repliesThose rocks are quite soft, but you should see this at full res - the detail is amazing, and that back produces such smooth detail to begin with.
Is your filter the 8 stop vari ND filter from Sing Ray? If so, I have one a love it. It works wonders on days like you shot.