Missouri’s Rugged, Beautiful Landscape

Here are more photographs from my trip to the Ozark Mountains in Southern Missouri with photographer Craig McCord. In my previous post I showed the old mills we visited which were set in a beautiful and rugged landscape. The photographs below show more of that landscape.

There were not a lot of opportunities to photograph the grand landscape of the Ozark Mountains because those mountains are very wooded. Yet, every now and then, there would be a break in the trees or somewhere along the roadside, where a magnificent view would  be revealed.

Storm Light In The Ozark Mountains by Richard Lewis

Storm Light In The Ozark Mountains by Richard Lewis 2016

I was able to spend time on my own the last day that I was in Eminence, Missouri. A nice morning mist made that time very worth while.

Missouri Farmscape by Richard Lewis

Missouri Farmscape by Richard Lewis 2016

Missouri Backroads by Richard Lewis

Missouri Backroads by Richard Lewis 2016

Blue Spring

Blue Spring really does look like this. That dark blue water is not faked in Photoshop.  The spring is very deep and flows quickly at about 90 million gallons a day. These two factors cause a kind of chemical reaction with the minerals in the rocks resulting in this deep blue color.

Ozark Mountain Blue Spring by Richard Lewis

Blue Spring by Richard Lewis 2016

Ozark Mountain Blue Spring Source by Richard Lewis

Blue Spring Source by Richard Lewis 2016

The Intimate Ozark Mountain Landscape

The Ozark Mountains are not a place with a lot of expansive views, but it is a nice place to get intimate with the landscape and find the patterns and compositions in the forest surrounding you. Being from the flat and sandy New Jersey Pinelands made the rocky and mountainous Ozarks an interesting place to figure out photographically. Both places are ruggedly beautiful, just in very different ways.

Top Of The Gorge by Richard Lewis

Top Of The Prairie Hollow Gorge by Richard Lewis 2016

Above Rocky Falls Ozark Mountains by Richard Lewis

Above Rocky Falls by Richard Lewis 2016

A Touch Of Fall In The Ozark Mountains by Richard Lewis

A Touch Of Fall In The Ozark Mountains by Richard Lewis 2016

The Ozark Mountains are a great place for photographing flowing water but this is the only photograph of it I’m showing here. (See the technical note below.) I’ve spent a lot of time photographing flowing water, so I get to be a little discriminating. This image is one of my favorites of the trip.

Two Sticks In The Creek by Richard Lewis

Two Sticks In The Creek by Richard Lewis 2016

Technical Note: The above photograph could be considered a compositional no-no. The “rules” of composition say that there should be an odd number of main elements shown. There actually were 3 of these branches sticking out of the water. One was bobbing up and down so much in the current that the long exposure needed to get the silky feel of the water caused it to be too blurry. Instead of doing a double exposure, I instinctively left it out of the photograph. While processing this image, and being temporarily stuck on the rules, I thought about lightening the little waves on the right in Photoshop to make them visually stronger to become a third main element. In the end I decided against it because the diagonal line of the two sticks creates a stronger composition. What do you think?

It’s important to take the time to evaluate the best way to photograph subjects in front of your camera. Use the “rules” as a guideline and let your heart and your imagination be the final say on the way you create your photographs.

Enjoy!