A Photogenic Journey to Arkansas

Taking our grandson to motocross camp in Arkansas turned in to a relaxing and productive vacation for Jane and me. Dillon had a blast at camp; we saw some interesting and educational events; and I got some great photographs.

We crammed a day of travel into two days, allowing Dillon an evening swim at the KOA campground pool in Texarkana. The continuation of the trip was less than two hours. We were in Arkadelphia before noon. Our camp site at DeGray Lake Resort State Park was near our previous stay at the same park. After dropping Dillon at MX camp, we planned our next day's trip to an out-of-the-way scenic area. We were up early and found our way along gravel logging roads to the Little Missouri Falls. It was beautiful but not as out-of-the-way as we had anticipated. Many others must have read the same Arkansas travel brochures that we did -- it was packed! That wasn't all bad. This bikini-clad beauty adds a bit of interest to an already pretty picture. Obviously, locals and many tourists have adopted Little Missouri Falls as a favorite swimming hole.

The larger falls and deeper swimming hole held most of the crowd in this area. We moved farther down the trail (and downstream) for a more natural image of The Natural State, Arkansas' state logo. I got right to the edge of the stream and attached my 12-24 lens for a shot of the water in motion. I wanted to show the softness of running water but had no tripod. This is hand held at 1/20 of a second. I think 1/2 second or even slower would be required to get the image I wanted. But I was pleased with this result.

The following day was my birthday. After lounging around the camp most of the day, we had a great dinner at The Fish Net, a local favorite and a restaurant where we had eaten during previous visits to Arkansas. Jane had planned a sunset cruise on Lake DeGray but it filled before we were able to make a reservation. She was really bummed.

I took Jane back to camp after our very pleasant dinner and gathered my camera equipment for a sunset outing at a picnic area on Lake DeGray. I was disappointed to find that it was quite clear with few clouds to reflect colors. I was fortunate,however, to be in the right place when I saw these geese flying into the sun. I had been looking for something of interest to replace the lack of color. That made the pine tree my accidental foreground for this image.

Thursday was a busy day. I finally got an image of the piliated woodpecker that made infrequent visits to our campsite. Unfortunately, it wasn't sharp. A cardinal seemed to be nesting in some nearby vines and a squirrel dropped by for a meal of hickory nuts -- acceptable images with my new 300 AF-S f4 lens but not what I was looking for. That came later, when we went to a discussion on rehabilitated birds of prey and their release into the wild. I was thrilled to get this close to a red tail hawk and quite pleased with what my 300mm lens produced. This was the early afternoon release. I didn't return for the release scheduled for later that evening. I should know better than to miss such a wonderful photo op. I would say "never again." But ... :-(

It was hard on this proud old grandpa to stay away from camp. I really love to watch my grandson ride ... but, we were asked to give the kids their space. We got there in the afternoon, per instructions, and missed another photo op. Dillon hurt his leg in the morning riding session and wasn't riding that afternoon. I was bummed. But, he had a great time and said he learned a lot. We'll find out on our next trip to one of the local tracks. And I'll get my photo op. :-)
l8r