Summer is my absolute least favorite season to photograph. The scorching temperatures and unbearable humidity, even in the early morning, quickly sap my energy and with it my desire to go outside. But, one of my goals for this year was to get out at least 25 days with the added caveat that I had to go out at least one day every month. That means if I want to meet my goal I have to get out at least once every month whether I want to or not, which was kind of the point of the one day a month “rule.”
In my effort to meet my goal, I made a fairly early morning trip a couple of weeks ago to Collins Creek. Collins Creek is one of my more go to locations when I can’t decide where I want to go for some photography. It’s relatively close to home being about an hour’s drive away. It also doesn’t seem to have a lot of visitors, at least when I’m there, so it’s a quiet and peaceful location.
I arrived just a few minutes after sunrise and began making my way down the short trail to the creek. Just as I reached the point where the trail begins to descend to the creek, I noticed this scene and immediately had the feeling that I had discovered a secret view into a wonderful fantasy world. Bright yellow-green leaves, which stood in stark contrast to the deep background shadows, hung over the creek and a small waterfall providing a lovely, foresty frame. When I processed the image in Lightroom, I spent a fair amount of time and used several different masks to enhance and emphasize the contrasts, and I think the final image turned out rather well.
A cascading waterfall surrounded by lush green trees and rocks.
I spent about an hour and a half at the creek, but I didn’t create any other images that I found particularly inspiring. But, I was surprisingly ok with that because the cool air, the quiet sounds of nature, and simply being outdoors was quite refreshing.
I loaded my gear into my truck and began to make my way back home, but, first, I made a quick stop at a small area that overlooks the Greers Ferry Dam, which creates Greers Ferry Lake, a very popular lake in North Central Arkansas. According to Wikipedia, construction of Greers Ferry Dam began in March 1959 and was completed by December 1962. The overlook is named in honor of President John F. Kennedy, who visited the dam on October 3, 1963. The dedication was President Kennedy’s last major public appearance before he was assassinated just 50 days later on November 22, 1963.
As I drove through the overlook area, I spotted a single tree standing in a small clearing and stopped to photograph it. By this time, the sun was well above the horizon creating some pretty extreme lighting conditions. I set up and photographed the tree. When I got home, the original color file was not what I hoped they would be although they were as I had expected. I wasn’t sure how to proceed until I converted it to black and white and used the harsh contrast to my advantage with the added benefit of enhancing the sun star effect as the sun shined through the leaves.
A lone tree stands silhouetted against a dramatic sky, with the sun casting a starburst through its branches.