Posted by John Moore on November 24, 2009 at 12:40 AM
I finally got around to processing a shot from a bushwhack Zack and I made on October 31 to The Blue Hole special interest area in the southern foothills of the Ozarks.
With the morning sunlight just minutes away from striking the falls, I waded out into the swift water for a good vantage point. I'd put a telephoto lens on the camera for compressing the background behind the falls, but then had to make two separate exposures to capture the width of the scene. Thanks to Photoshop's remarkable stitching feature, I was able to merge the two shots.
Posted by Karla Hall on November 24, 2009 at 7:17 AM
Great shot John! I love how the color was starting to spread on the water from the sun illuminating the trees over on the right. Beautifully done!
Posted by TIMERNST on November 24, 2009 at 8:47 AM
A bit of history on this particular Blue Hole (there are several in the state). It was originally part of the East Fork Wilderness Study Area back in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I photographed the area extensively for the forest service - they were looking for negatives as well as positives to illustrate each of the wilderness study areas - generally the forest service was against all of them. They kind of hired the wrong guy since I tended to "focus" on the beauty spots of each area, although also had to document the hand of man too (old sawmills, cemeteries, homesteads, bad road cuts, etc.). There is a really nice waterfall on a side drainage - I've got some great images of it filled with ice one winter.
When it came down to crunch time we had to give up the Blue Hole area as part of East Fork. In fact three areas had to be sacrificed in order to get the rest of the wilderness areas approved, including the Indian Creek Study Area (the one in the Mulberry River Drainage - the other one is already a wilderness area), and the Penhook Study Area that is also near East Fork. One reason the Blue Hole wouldn't fly is because of the forest road that cuts along its northern boundary - that would have become part of the wilderness area and closed, which would have pissed a lot more people off and made access to the area much worse. So we drew the Blue Hole out. This Blue Hole does have some nice "wilderness" features, but no real protection at the moment.
Posted by Tom Kennon on November 24, 2009 at 10:04 AM
Nice image, John. I really like your perspective on the creek and falls and great work with the merge.
Posted by Bill Dark on November 24, 2009 at 10:14 AM
This a really a scenic area, no doubt about it. The larger version is especially nice - lots of color and detail to explore throughout the frame. Nicely done, John.
Posted by Dottie L Lloyd on November 24, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Oooooooo Ahhhhhh! Enough said.
Posted by Randy Wilson on November 24, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Really beautiful texture in the falls and in the foreground drops and great light on the water. Wonderful work, John.
About what time in the morning was this taken?
Posted by John Moore on November 24, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Tim, thanks for the info. It's interesting that Blue Hole and Penhook were given Special Interest Area status, but not Indian Creek.
Randy, that's a good question. The shots were taken at 9:20, a full hour and 40 minutes after sunrise, so those falls (the ones on the southern fork) are in shadow a good while even on a sunny day.
Posted by TIMERNST on November 24, 2009 at 6:48 PM
Actually the special interest moniker doesn't offer any permanent protection - just makes the forest service feel good about themselves. They can go in and log anytime they want to, or cut new roads, burn, etc. There was a push just a couple of years ago to make the Indian Creek area a "roadless" area but the local mudslingers (aka four-wheeler and jeep crowd who run the Mullberry River Valley) protested and perhaps even greased a few wheels and the idea seems to have been dropped. Oh well, we can't have everything...
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on November 24, 2009 at 8:28 PM
Well I'm glad I waited to comment until I saw the larger version on a good monitor ... what a treat. I love the color of the uppermost (center) fall, the backlight on the leaves and the subtle details in the water. A perfect shutter speed for this scene. Well done John!
Posted by Gale Rainwater on November 25, 2009 at 1:43 AM
Beautiful image John. Well done on all of it. I like the touch of fall color and such a wonderful waterfall.
Discussion
11 repliesWith the morning sunlight just minutes away from striking the falls, I waded out into the swift water for a good vantage point. I'd put a telephoto lens on the camera for compressing the background behind the falls, but then had to make two separate exposures to capture the width of the scene. Thanks to Photoshop's remarkable stitching feature, I was able to merge the two shots.
Larger Version
ISO 100, 70mm, f/16, 0.7 sec.
When it came down to crunch time we had to give up the Blue Hole area as part of East Fork. In fact three areas had to be sacrificed in order to get the rest of the wilderness areas approved, including the Indian Creek Study Area (the one in the Mulberry River Drainage - the other one is already a wilderness area), and the Penhook Study Area that is also near East Fork. One reason the Blue Hole wouldn't fly is because of the forest road that cuts along its northern boundary - that would have become part of the wilderness area and closed, which would have pissed a lot more people off and made access to the area much worse. So we drew the Blue Hole out. This Blue Hole does have some nice "wilderness" features, but no real protection at the moment.
About what time in the morning was this taken?
Randy, that's a good question. The shots were taken at 9:20, a full hour and 40 minutes after sunrise, so those falls (the ones on the southern fork) are in shadow a good while even on a sunny day.