Tag: ozarks

Limitless Composition

landscape

I’ve been paying a lot more attention to Elephant Rocks State Park lately.  I am seeing there is a never ending supply of potential terrific photographic compositions (not that the one below is one of these).  Add all the potential compositions with all the variables that light can bring to this place and throw in the different seasons and potentials for weather and you wind up with a place I should be visiting at least once a week!  I need to find out how to make this happen.  😉

This image was obviously taken with a wide focal length and is a composite of a couple different exposures so that I could keep some detail in this amazing autumn sky.  Some oak leaves contribute with lichen and the natural texture of the rocks for some foreground interest, and a dark lead-in line is present created by what I believe is a path water has drained off this shelf for who knows how many years?

While visiting one of my favorite places in the St. Francois Mountains, Lower Rock Creek Wilderness, I met a father and son visiting the Ozarks for the first time from Wisconsin.  I was able to give them suggestions for other places to see during their short visit, Elephant Rocks being one of them.  Needless to say they thought this location was fascinating and them, I and many others finished the day by watching a spectacular sunset amongst the boulders.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens @ 11mm, ISO 100,  f/16, 1/15 sec

Winter’s Bone

landscape, sunset/sunrise

I found this spot on a recent scouting trip in Warren County over the holiday break.  When I was driving on the higher main roads the outside thermometer on my all-wheel drive all the time Subaru Forester read 33 degrees.  When I reached this spot down near the bottom of the holler, it read 16 F.  This was probably the coldest weather I experienced in this so-called winter we are having.  I saw the frost-touched post, barbed-wire and vegetation with the forested hill and the sun rising beyond that and of course I had an opportunity to try my new graduated ND filters.  If you’ve ever tried to do intricate photography or any other kind of work in such temperatures then you know how challenging this can be.  Overall, this trip yielded some interesting images even though I discovered my main sought after location looks to be surrounded by private property and I did not press my luck in getting there.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 35mm, ISO 100,  f/14, 1/10 sec

“The sky lay dark and low so a hawk circling overhead floated in and out of clouds.  The wind heaved and knocked the hood from her head.  That hawk was riding the heaving wind looking to kill something, rip it bloody, chew the tasty parts, let the bones drop”

-Daniel Woodrell

“Winter’s Bone”

Crystallofolia & Armadillos: Hawn State Park Presents its Inspiration at Every Season

macro, wildlife

I spent a fantastic Saturday hiking and making images in the Missouri Ozarks yesterday.  Any day, even a bad day, in nature beats about anything else I can think of doing.  Some days I barely take the camera out of the bag, instead concentrating on hiking, birding, botanizing, etc…  Other days, like yesterday, it took me close to six hours to hike the North loop of the Whispering Pine Trail of Hawn SP because I stopped so often to set up the camera or observe some wildlife.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, ISO 100,  f/14, 1/13 sec

My primary photographic subject turned out to be these exquisite crystallofolia, or “frost flowers”.  I have wanted to get some pictures of these things for a while now but they can be quite difficult to find, needing specific requirements to form.  I could spend a few paragraphs attempting to explain this mysterious and ephemeral natural wonder.  Instead, I will lead you to the well-written document by Missouri’s own Ted MacRae.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, ISO 100,  f/18, 1/6 sec

As the title of this post suggests, Hawn SP is a destination of mine at least once a season.  I have rarely visited this spot in Ste Genevieve County and gone home without seeing something new, something extraordinary or at least come away renewed.  There are no shortages of photographic potentials and it is one of the closest spots to St. Louis where I really feel I have gotten away from it all.  Even on the busiest days it is rare to come across other people on the trail.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, ISO 100,  f/18, 1/3 sec

Getting near the trailhead on the way back I heard some rustling in the leaves.  I followed the sound to what at first looked like a large opossum.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it was an armadillo!  This was the first live armadillo I’ve seen and photographed.  When I came across this guy my camera was of course attached to my tripod and strapped to my pack.  I had Canon’s new 100mm f2.8 macro L lens attached at the time.  I did not think I had much time before this guy slipped up and over the ridge she was heading up where I would lose her to the poor light on the north-facing side.  Therefore, I did not try and swap lenses to something a little more useful for this type of encounter such as the 70-200mm or 400mm.  Of course when focus is sharp, this lens has no equivalent in sharpness and image quality; however, autofocusing this lens under this situation was challenging to say the least.  I’ve read reviews saying this lens was a slow dog for autofocus, but that’s not what we buy macro lenses for, is it?  Anyway, besides a larger portion of focus failures than I’m accustomed to, I guess I managed to grab a few images that I am relatively happy with.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, ISO 320,  f/4, 1/250 sec

Like many small mammals in the Missouri Ozarks, Armadillos have poor eyesight and must rely on their hearing and smell.  The section of the trail where this took place had a fair number of Oaks and of course at this time of year the forest floor was covered with a noisy blanket of dry fallen leaves.  I made enough of a racket running up the hillside that she was definitely aware someone was following her.  She often stopped and listened and as the previous image shows, she would raise up on her hind legs to get a good whiff of the potential predator on her tail.  Thankfully, I’ve been told I smell almost exactly like an armadillo, so she probably was not too alarmed by my presence.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, ISO 320,  f/4, 1/800 sec

As usual, I reluctantly left Hawn in the early afternoon and proceeded to my evening destination – Hughes Mountain Natural Area, which is another place that never disappoints (although I still haven’t had too many interesting skies like I hope for).  I knew there would be a full-moon rising shortly after sunset and had a few poorly conceived ideas about what I wanted to do.  I took some images of the sunset and watched as the brightest, reddest and coldest moon I have ever seen rise almost directly opposite the sky from the sun.  In the end, it got too cold too quickly.  I played around with the moon in some images but I doubt I got anything I’ll be happy with.  I believe this image is showing the four hills that make up Buford Mountain and Bald Knob to the South-west of Hughes Mountain.  I’m still not close to have the sunrise/sunset images I’m looking for from Hughes Mountain.  One of these days everything will line up and I will hopefully get closer to what I am after.

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 65mm, ISO 160,  f/11, 3.2 sec

Overall, another fantastic day.  I’ll be trying to rest my legs today.

Ozark Bill Said Let There Be Ozark Light! “Tatanka”

"monochrome", Uncategorized, wildlife

This is the first post of Ozark Bill Presents – Ozark Light!

This image was taken on a trip that the wife and I went on this past fall.  Our destination was Big Spring SP to stay in the cabins a few days.  On our way out-of-town we stopped at Lone Elk Park to hopefully catch some sexual excitement of the Elk rut.  Not too many Elk were seen doing interesting things on this visit.  We did, however, get to watch some bison up close.  I converted to this sepia-toned version using PS-Elements 9 and Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2 software.

Tatanka is the Lakota word meaning “bull-bison” or “buffalo”.  Did you know…?  Buffalo is not the correct name for this species as the name buffalo is used to describe species in Asia.

Technical details: Canon EOS 50D camera, EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 191mm, ISO 640,  f/6.3, 1/80 sec