I had a great idea for photo of the rising full moon from the top of Pinnacle Mountain, so on Friday I set out to complete the first part of my idea, which was to get to the top of the mountain. The trail is only .75 of a mile long, but it’s uphill all the way. Pinnacle Mountain State Park is only a few miles west of Little Rock and it’s a very popular place. The trail traverses great expanses of huge rocks and so many people have been over the trail the rocks are worn slick in most places. Slick enough to slip on even when dry. The mountain is about 1,000 in elevation (the highest hill around) and provides a commanding view of the Arkansas River, Lake Maumelle and other lesser mountains to the south and west.
I got to the top about an hour before the moonrise and about two hours before sunset, so I had some time to kill. In wandering around the peak looking for something to shoot, I was drawn to the ubiquitous graffiti. I decided to make a little photographic study of the marred rocks.
The graffiti is pretty poor. Most of it was applied with Magic Marker™, though some used actual paint, and a few hardy souls have actually carved into the rock, like Bill in the top photo.
I used a little fill flash to bring up the names on the rock on this one.
My plan was to use my 70-300mm telephoto lens to shoot the moon just as it got above the horizon with the Little Rock skyline in the shot. I kept watching for the moon to rise, but I was concerned the haze on the horizon would obscure it until it got too high in the sky. That’s exactly what happened. “Best laid plans” and all that I guess. All I had left was to wait for the sunset.
This is the side of the Bill rock lit by the setting sun.
This is a six-shot panorama looking down the Arkansas River Valley toward Little Rock. Click the picture to make big and see the all the detail.
For the Bill shot I blended three shots of different exposures using a technique I learned from Tony Kuyper’s Web site.
Comments
HDR anyone?