Monday, November 3, 2008

A Fall Excursion - Post 101

Lake Barnett, White County, Arkansas

I had a wonderful time this afternoon! I threw caution (about gasoline consumption) to the winds and hit the road. My trip was only a relatively short jaunt away from my regular stomping grounds, but something I haven't done for quite some time. My friend Barbara, always game for an mini-adventure, accompanied me. She rode shotgun; I was on a photographic mission.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm enrolled in a Basic Photography course at a local camera shop. We have homework every week for which we are to use something we've learned in the most recent class. This week (the class meets Thursday evening) we are to submit a photograph of 'Nature;' no buildings or people included. Since I've not had my chosen photograph critiqued as yet, that one is not included here. I'm still on the short end of the learning curve and have a great deal to learn, but I had fun taking the photos I'm sharing here.
 This afternoon, we wandered down several roads that I've never before driven over, all within about 50 miles northeast of my home. Following is a small selection of the photos I took this afternoon.



A gnarled tree.
Not much color, but an interesting shape, I thought.



Immediately across the road from the gnarled tree was a meadow
backed by a colorful hillside. Still a lot of green, but getting there!




Geese swimming on Lake Barnett.


Fall colors reflected on the water
at the far end of the lake.
(The photo at the beginning of this post was taken at the nearest lake access point. The lake itself covers about three miles. More information about this little jewel can be found by clicking the link under the first photo.)


Dried grasses and colorful plants, dappled with light.

I captured a beautiful sunset, too, but I'm saving that photo for this week's Sky Watch.

I came home with lifted spirits after viewing some hitherto unseen, and very beautiful, parts of my home state, well worth the quarter-tank of gas I burned.

I hope your day was lovely, too.

10 comments:

Rottlady of the Ozarks said...

Your pictures are beautiful! I particularly like the next to the last. The reflection of the trees in the lake is really nice. I can't wait to see the sunset picture.

Marvin said...

It sounds as if you and your friend had a great day trip. Thanks for sharing the photos from your outing. I gotta agree with Rottlady, the shot of the lake and reflection is my favorite, a really great photo.

Rose said...

You got some great photographs...I cannot pick a favorite. I love the ones with the lake and reflections (1st and last), and loved the one of the tree and the last one of the grasses.

EG CameraGirl said...

You took quite a few lovely shots on your road trip! I tend to like reflections. ;-)

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

I love the one of fall colors reflected on the lake. It would make a great jigsaw puzzle. (I'm a fan of jigsaw puzzles.)

Richard Lawry said...

The fall colors have been superb this year. Thanks for the great photos. Fall color reflecting in water always makes nice photos.

An Arkie's Musings

Jeannelle said...

Oh, Pat, these photos are lovely! That's great you're taking a photography class!

I love the reflections of the autumn trees in the water, and the geese photo is gorgeous. And, the scene of the weeds.....isn't it amazing what will make a great scene for snapping with the camera! It keeps life interesting!

Jeannelle said...

Forgot to say, I like the gnarled tree, too.....lone trees are just fascinating. And, even now as the branches turn bare, the trees become ever more intriguing.

nanny said...

I too love the picture with the reflection in water. Do you use photoshop? very pretty. I am in arkansas also and know exactly where lake barnett is. Are you going to Bedford photo classes? I bought a Canon Rebel from them and do wish I could make use of all the features camera has to offer. Found you on skywatch. I don't blog(yet)ha, but I do love to read them and look at the pictures.

Pat - Arkansas said...

* * * * For Nanny, if you stop by again:
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. I tried to check your blogs but they are blank, so far. Jump on in here, woman!
I do not use Photoshop on my pictures; I'm too dense to learn it, I think. I do have Picasa from Google, and use it to crop my photos and do tweaking of the contrast when I think it would help. Otherwise, my photos are just like they came out of the camera.
Yes, I am attending class at Bedford in North Little Rock. We will have class 5 of 6 next week. I've really enjoyed it. I hope to take the second class next spring.

Where are you in Arkansas? You may email me at the address on my blogger profile. I'd like to hear from you. If you know where Lake Barnett is, you can't be too far away from me. We need to go on a photography excursion sometime so you can exercise that Canon Rebel.