I decided to do something different a few nights ago .... I went back down to the Leatherwood Wilderness and hiked into Funnel falls and did a night shoot! I lit up the falls with portable LED lighting and had a good time tramping around in the forest at night time. It is WAY different than slinging on a daypack and setting out down a trail during the day . It takes a lot more effort to set up and do shots like these , but I love this kind of stuff !  Enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

This shot frames the stream as it goes into the "funnel" and me looking out over the natural bridge.

 

Had an excellent day today chasing waterfalls down in the Leatherwood Wilderness . It was cold (40 degrees) and wet , but I saddled up and went anyway . We've had a huge amount of rainfall the last few days and I knew the falls would be roaring. They did not disappoint! 

 

 

East Funnel Falls at the cliff

 

 

 

 

Down below East Funnel Falls

 

 

 

LoonBeam Pouroff at high flow ... best shot I've captured here!



      I recently got back out into the woods again for some fall hiking. These are some pictures I took on the Indian Rock House loop trail in Buffalo Point Recreation area , near the Buffalo National River. At the end of the trail is a really cool cave , that has a small stream flowing out of the rock (a spring) and along a back wall , then back into the ground.  I can see why the Natives would have loved this cave !

 

It felt great to be out again.... there was some ice on the base of a waterfall I came across , and the air was very nice for hiking (about 40 degrees) .

Looking forward to more miles on the trails this winter !

 

 

I've been chasing waterfalls the past few weeks  ...... this is the best time in Arkansas , when we get the most rain , and when the woods aren't grown over yet .

 

This is Crosscut Falls in the Leatherwood Wilderness area . It was a tough bushwhack to get to the bottom of this fall ..... BUT , I am a glutton for punishment !

 

 

 

The Leatherwood Wilderness is full of places to explore .... my kind of place !

This is called the "Little Glory Hole" . 

The "Hole" ..... drilled by thousands of years of dripping water .



This waterfall is called "Cougar Falls" . It was a long bushwhack to find a place to get down to the bottom to do my photography. On the way back up ... I decided to sell my DSLR Olympus camera and get something lighter . I purchased a Canon G16 ..... I LOVE it so far !

 

This overlook is typical of the area ..... so many side roads to explore !

I've been posting some of my photos to this web page  .....  

https://cogburnimagesozarkmtnphotos.shutterfly.com/

It lets me host videos too , which I can't post here .

   Today , I had a nice outing down in the Sylamore Forest of the Ozarks. Hiked into the forest to Steele Falls , a 3.2 mile hike . I am OUT of shape !  Got some nice photos though ......

Stay tuned for Blood Moon photo shoot number three ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blood Moon No.2

A photo of the Blood Moon rising in the east ....

 

I got very few clear shots , there was a lot of cloud cover around .... this was one of the clearest.

 

The clouds made for some interesting scenes , when combined with the moon's light.

 

A composite photo of the phases of the Blood Moon .... God is speaking to us .

Is America listening ???   WAKE UP !!

A collection of Photo Slideshows ...... Bull Shoals Sunsets

A WOW Sunset over Bull Shoals


 Bull Shoals Sunset



Bull Shoals Sunset (Again)


I have been working on creating some slideshows lately with the photos I've been shooting down at the Lakeview Recreation area , on Bull Shoals Lake . It's great to have a place nearby to go to in the evening to take in a great sunset . Enjoy the Show !!

Clint's Camera History

This is me setting up a shot on Pettit Jean Mountain on the first trip to Arkansas that Penny and I made together .

(Note the red hair !!  Now it's all gray ....)

        



And what a view !! 
This was when Penny was still falling in love with a "mountain man" .... and she could be convinced to sit out on bluff edges .... with a crack in the rock .... that could separate at any moment .  She is much wiser now ..... I still do that kind of stuff though !

My first camera ever !  A Kodak 110 Instamatic . I still have some of the pictures that I took with it .

 

My next camera was this Minolta Freedom 50 . It was a real step up , as it has a built in flash and auto focus .
I took a lot of photos with it .

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next step up came in the form of this Kodak digital . I loved it because there was no more sending film off to have it developed . It featured a real zoom lens ........ I was big time now !

  

The back side .....

 

 
 
 

For my next camera , I wanted something compact that would slip into a pocket and be handy for my on the go lifestyle . This little Kodak sported 7 MP, a zoom lens, and would fit into a shirt pocket . It is a great camera .... I still have it . It has recently been designated as my "stay in the truck camera" to have handy for when I see a cool shot when I am driving.

Along about Christmas last year , I was wanting to up the game in the camera department , and wound up buying this Samsung digital . I have learned a tremendous amount about photography while I have explored its many features. It takes great pictures , has 18x Zoom lens , shoots HD video and is still small enough to fit into a pocket , or a side pocket of a backpack .

 

 

 

After only owning the Samsung for 6 months , my insatiable appetite for a camera with more features has led me to order this Panasonic model. It has a super zoom 60x lens , and the ability to shoot exposures as long a 60 seconds ... which is great for night time photography. It is MUCH larger than all my other cameras , and my appetite for better, more creative photos has finally outweighed my usual pocket size frame camera that I have always stuck with . I am going to be the guy tramping through the woods with a camera bag and tripod , as well as a backpack .
This series is called a "bridge" camera , as it bridges the gap between smaller point and shoot cameras , and the professional DSLR cameras the pros use . I think this will do everything I need , and is about 25% the cost of a Pro DSLR camera .

 

Here is my latest camera buy  ...  A Canon G16 . It has a host of features usually only found in higher end DSLR cameras . I tried an Olympus DSLR for a couple months , and it shot fine pictures , but it was too bulky for my use with all the lens and accessories needed for it. This Canon is still pocketable and can shoot ISO's at high as 12,500 ! It has built in star time lapse mode which I am excited about as well .  Click ... click .... click  

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more good photography and videos ! 

 

Sorry for the image quality of the video .... it is really great in HD format.

A SummerTime Road Trip to Ponca and the Buffalo River

It is summertime in the Ozarks .... time for fun and sightseeing. I had  a few extra days off from work , so Penny and I decided to use one of them for a road trip over to the Ponca area in the Buffalo River upper wilderness area . It is a great area to visit , and was one of the first areas I ever visited in my youth , which started my longing to live in Northern Arkansas. The Buffalo has been declared a National River and is protected from developments and is a popular float stream for canoes ( It's time to go again!) .

 

On the journey over , we stopped at Penny's favorite flea market store , the "Junk-Shun" in Harrison. We didn't find any major scores today , but had a good time browsing anyway . After that we headed to Harrison and had lunch at Wendy's along with 350 (!) children from a church vacation bible school . We then left town and headed south to the mountains .... my favorite part of the day !

 

Once down in the Ozarks , I settled in to my routine of gawking at mountains , rivers and trees and snapping pictures of anything interesting . I finished up with a dip in the Buffalo River at the Ponca low water bridge area which was GREAT !

 

Enjoy the pictures !

 

 

 

A  short slideshow of the Bull Shoals fireworks celebration .

   

 

 



Penny's favorite Flea Market store near Harrison , at the     "Junk-Shun" of  highway 62 and 412.



 Penny explores a cemetery near Ponca , AR

 

  

 

A peaceful place to rest ........

This church is well over a 100 years old ....

A simple structure ..... for a less complicated time .

 

Clint explores the Buffalo River near Ponca

 

 

Penny dips a toe in the cool waters .....

This is the traditional put in for canoe trips in spring . This time of year the water level is too low to float the headwaters area .

A look downstream .....  the Buffalo River has a picture around every bend in the river ....

I can't take it .... I have to get in that cool water !