What a fabulous day it was for waterfalls yesterday. With over two inches of rain in the watershed, I decided to head over to the Richland Creek Wilderness Area to explore a waterfall that I had never been to. Keefe must be one of the most under-photographed falls in the state. One reason might be that the last part of the hike in is a bit difficult if you're up along the bluff. But is was well worth the effort.
After I arrived at the "altar" off to the side of the falls, my GPS started beeping like it was low on battery power. But after checking it, I found that the signal was weak, and that my position fix was all over the place. That's the first time my Garmin has ever done that. No big deal though, since all you have to do is follow the creek back to the road.
Good vantage point on a beautiful scene. Three long tall verticals dominate the image, with the waterfall set off and balanced by the two tall trees. A classic waterfall photo.
I'm with Wayne. An absolutely spectacular composition. Great range of dark and light tones and a wonderful compliment of strong verticals as Randy pointed out. What a great day to be in the wilderness. I must also say that I've never had a problem like you describe with my Garmin.
Sounds like a great time to be back there Bill. Guess the best I can do is keep enjoying what everyone else is shooting. I like the looks of this fall. Seems to be simple and clean. Good job on positioning the falls with the two tall trees it's pleasing to look at.
Thanks Bill good job!
Bill a really great shot. Everything about it is good a wonderful shot. I have been to this one on a snowy day and the terrain was very slick. Did you climb up the steep hill from the start or after you could see the falls? I didn't get to this vantage point.
After thinking about it for a while, the trouble with my GPS may have had to do with the fact that it was in my backpack (which has never been a problem) AND right up against the canyon wall in a little corner of rock where it would not slide down the hill.
Gale - I went right up to the base of the bluff and over to the falls. The footing is a little iffy in spots, and would be a real problem in freezing weather. There is a pretty good stand of poison ivy right where it doesn't need to be and there is no way to avoid it at this location. I went back the same way, so don't know much about the route along the creek, other than it being very nice down there, with a lot of shooting possiblities I would think.
I headed up the hill but decided it was to steep, slick and icy for that day. The creek route is much easier obviously but you don't get the high vantage point view. Here's a shot from that day. http://galerainwater.com/forum/keefe.jpg
Bill, very nice shot of the Falls. I have been wanting to get to this one but have never made it. Did you check and see if the blockage had been cleared from Falling Water Creek Road?
Tom - I did'nt go all the way to the slumped area, but did talk to a group of forest service guys who said that it was still there, and didn't know of any plans to remove the debris any time soon. There were four young whipper-snappers cruising the backroads in a big crew cab pickup having a cold one (or two) most likely...didn't really look like they had been engaged in much physical labor all day Probably the same thing I would have done back in the good ol' days!
This waterfall is named after Terry Keefe, who is perhaps the greatest waterfall hunter in Arkansas, and who I have spent a great deal of time bushwhacking with.
And a funny note about this particular waterfall. I shot most of the images in the Arkansas Waterfall Guidebook over a two-year span using my very first digital cameras - Minolta DiMage 7 and DiMage A2. I wanted to include a person in each photo for scale (which was almost always me since I normally was there alone), and that was a tough chore for some of these waterfalls since I only had ten seconds to trip the shutter, run what was sometimes a long, rough, and dangerous route to get in place at the base of the waterfall, and then settle my body down enough to hold still for what were often exposures of a second or longer. Many times I had to get back so far in order to fit all of the waterfall in the composition that it really stretched my physical limits to get into the frame within the ten second timer limit. Many times I would trip the shutter and sprint as hard as I could, but would often fall due to the slick rocks or mud, or simply not get there in time - it would often take me eight or ten tries before everything worked out OK. I could have never done this without digital since I could see if I made it into the shot or not before I left the location. (And by the way, I had at least six pairs of the very same color shorts and polypro shirt that you see me wearing in the book photos - I did not wear the exact same outfit every day - that would have stunk!).
Anyway, when the first edition of the guidebook sold out within six months and we decided to reprint in color, I went back to Keefe Falls to get a new shot for the color version - my only previous photo of this waterfall had been shot in black and white (dumb move). While messing around with the very same DiMage A2 camera right before this shoot, I discovered - much to my great horror but also delight - that these cameras had a built-in intervalometer. What that does is allow you to set a specific time interval and the camera would take a picture every time that was hit, and continue taking photos every, say minute, until you turned it off. What that meant was that I did not have to bust my fanny to get into a photo within ten seconds, but rather I could set the camera to take a photo every 30 seconds, then stroll over into the scene, get myself all set up and calmed down, then pose. Unfortunately I did not discover this until all the photos for the book had been taken in the previous years, but I did put it to good use for the new photo of Keefe Falls - my only regret now is that since the water level was so high I did not have a big digital camera to use! Here is the link to that photo for comparison of water levels - KEEFE FALLS.
Good advice, no doubt. Even though I've read my manual, I'm sure I've forgotten many of the features on the D2x - there are so many on all of them these days.
Good story too, Tim. That's really amazing that you could get to your posed position within 10 seconds. If I weren't able to get it in three or four tries, I would have started thinking about carrying an inflatable manakin! You could have just put your hat, shorts, and a shirt on it and fired away! With a little photoshop work, nobody would know the difference...
BTW, the Keefe link doesn't seem to load, but after doing a keyword search, I was able to get a thumbnail, but no larger version. Man, it was rippin' that day! When did you shoot that?
That is weird - it worked just fine right after I posted it but now it goes to another photo. And I don't know why you can't get a larger photo to show up by clicking the thumbnail - works just fine this morning. At any rate, I just changed the link above so it should now go direct to the photo...It was taken in June several years ago, after several days of heavy rain. I think it was the morning after a big party here too...
I have tons of photos of me from the original shoots years ago that show great waterfalls but nothing more than blurs of me - often sliding down a steep embankment, falling on my face, etc. - thank goodness all of those shots are blurred so they won't ever appear in print or on a billboard!
Discussion
14 repliesAfter I arrived at the "altar" off to the side of the falls, my GPS started beeping like it was low on battery power. But after checking it, I found that the signal was weak, and that my position fix was all over the place. That's the first time my Garmin has ever done that. No big deal though, since all you have to do is follow the creek back to the road.
I do wish you'd have trimmed that small branch & leaves that intersected the fall ...
Good stuff Bill ... have a great summer hunting!
Thanks Bill good job!
Brad
After thinking about it for a while, the trouble with my GPS may have had to do with the fact that it was in my backpack (which has never been a problem) AND right up against the canyon wall in a little corner of rock where it would not slide down the hill.
Gale - I went right up to the base of the bluff and over to the falls. The footing is a little iffy in spots, and would be a real problem in freezing weather. There is a pretty good stand of poison ivy right where it doesn't need to be and there is no way to avoid it at this location. I went back the same way, so don't know much about the route along the creek, other than it being very nice down there, with a lot of shooting possiblities I would think.
http://galerainwater.com/forum/keefe.jpg
And a funny note about this particular waterfall. I shot most of the images in the Arkansas Waterfall Guidebook over a two-year span using my very first digital cameras - Minolta DiMage 7 and DiMage A2. I wanted to include a person in each photo for scale (which was almost always me since I normally was there alone), and that was a tough chore for some of these waterfalls since I only had ten seconds to trip the shutter, run what was sometimes a long, rough, and dangerous route to get in place at the base of the waterfall, and then settle my body down enough to hold still for what were often exposures of a second or longer. Many times I had to get back so far in order to fit all of the waterfall in the composition that it really stretched my physical limits to get into the frame within the ten second timer limit. Many times I would trip the shutter and sprint as hard as I could, but would often fall due to the slick rocks or mud, or simply not get there in time - it would often take me eight or ten tries before everything worked out OK. I could have never done this without digital since I could see if I made it into the shot or not before I left the location. (And by the way, I had at least six pairs of the very same color shorts and polypro shirt that you see me wearing in the book photos - I did not wear the exact same outfit every day - that would have stunk!).
Anyway, when the first edition of the guidebook sold out within six months and we decided to reprint in color, I went back to Keefe Falls to get a new shot for the color version - my only previous photo of this waterfall had been shot in black and white (dumb move). While messing around with the very same DiMage A2 camera right before this shoot, I discovered - much to my great horror but also delight - that these cameras had a built-in intervalometer. What that does is allow you to set a specific time interval and the camera would take a picture every time that was hit, and continue taking photos every, say minute, until you turned it off. What that meant was that I did not have to bust my fanny to get into a photo within ten seconds, but rather I could set the camera to take a photo every 30 seconds, then stroll over into the scene, get myself all set up and calmed down, then pose. Unfortunately I did not discover this until all the photos for the book had been taken in the previous years, but I did put it to good use for the new photo of Keefe Falls - my only regret now is that since the water level was so high I did not have a big digital camera to use! Here is the link to that photo for comparison of water levels - KEEFE FALLS.
Moral of the story - READ YOUR CAMERA MANUAL!
Good story too, Tim. That's really amazing that you could get to your posed position within 10 seconds. If I weren't able to get it in three or four tries, I would have started thinking about carrying an inflatable manakin! You could have just put your hat, shorts, and a shirt on it and fired away!
BTW, the Keefe link doesn't seem to load, but after doing a keyword search, I was able to get a thumbnail, but no larger version. Man, it was rippin' that day! When did you shoot that?
I have tons of photos of me from the original shoots years ago that show great waterfalls but nothing more than blurs of me - often sliding down a steep embankment, falling on my face, etc. - thank goodness all of those shots are blurred so they won't ever appear in print or on a billboard!