I have visited Pinnacle Mountain State Park many times over the years. It’s a really convenient location because it’s close to home and easy to get to. So, whenever I feel like getting out but I can’t decide exactly where I want to go, I will often head to Pinnacle.
The issue I have when I go to Pinnacle Mountain is I always have a difficult time creating images there. I would love to blame it on the area, but I know the source of the difficulty is really me. There are all sorts of subjects just waiting to be discovered and photographed; I just don’t recognize them. Occasionally, though, there will be something that cries out to be photographed, and even I will take note and happily oblige. And, that was definitely the case with this picture that I created back in 2015.
Earlier in the week, I decided I wanted to get in some photography the following weekend. I spent all week trying to figure out where to go, but, on Friday evening, I still had no idea what to do. I settled on making a trip to Pinnacle Mountain, but, based on my past trips, I wasn’t really expecting to come home with much.
The next morning, I arrived before sunrise with the idea of hanging around the visitor center area to see what I might find there. The gate was still closed, so I found a pull-out beside the road and waited for one of the staff to get the gate opened. The lighting slowly grew brighter as I waited and waited and waited. Finally, someone showed up and opened the gate, and I finally made my way into the park.
My first stop was a boat launch area that sits on the edge of the Maumelle River just below the visitor center. Getting out of my truck to walk around and check out the location, I noticed the sky was not completely overcast with some breaks in the clouds. With some luck, I thought, I might be able to get some nice color on the clouds. I just needed to find something to go with it.
As I expected, the clouds began to take on color as the sun began to rise above the horizon. I frantically picked up the pace on my search for a subject, and that’s when I noticed this dock jutting out from the river bank. All of the sudden, everything was coming together.
To me, the scene struck me as something the late Bob Ross might have painted, and that’s how I set up the composition. Even the exposure was straight forward. The only thing I had to do was ensure I had complete depth of field, press the shutter button, and capture the image.