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An Afternoon at the
Chickasaw National Recreation Area
These shots were taken at the Chickasaw National
Recreation Area. Click the image below to
enter this gallery.
More About This Region
The
Chickasaw National Recreation Area encompasses the Arbuckle Lake region as
well as what used to be known as Platt National Park next door to the town
of Sulfur, Oklahoma about an hour and a half south of Oklahoma City.
This region lies just north of the Arbuckle Mountains and is a region of
many flowing springs and bubbling brooks. The town of Sulfur
attributes its name to the smell of hydrogen sulfide present in many of the
springs. Other minerals in the water include calcium carbonate
dissolved out of the ancient limestone rock of the Arbuckles. The
carbonates precipitate out of the water forming
travertine
rock formations throughout the region.
The
CNRA lies in a transition zone running north to south from Kansas, through
Oklahoma and into north Texas known as the
Cross
Timbers. The Cross Timbers marks the dividing line between the
deciduous and evergreen forests of the southeast and the prairies of the
Great Plains to the west. The Cross Timbers flora consists mostly of
smaller Post Oak and Black Jack Oak trees densely interspersed with
brambles, ivies and other dense shrubs. The Cross Timbers was
considered a barrier by early pioneers because of the difficulties of
cutting and maintaing wagon trails through the dense underbrush.
The CNRA lies on the western edge of the Cross Timbers in this part of the
country and hiking trails in the park will take you from the Cross Timbers
into prairie lands featuring both short grass and tall grass.
But
the main appeal of the area is the countless crystal clear bubbling brooks
and waterfalls. The native Americans of the region called the area
"The Peaceful Valley of Rippling Waters." Travertine Creek and other
brooks create a multitude of shaded waterfalls and quiet pools and ponds.
Shooting on this Day
Shooting conditions on this day were really not good for typical landscape
photography. The sky was just short of overcast with a bright haze of
flat light that really cut contrasts and created bright reflections on
surface pools. However, I've always found this sort of lighting to
have advantages in densely wooded scenes where the "light box" light wraps
around the trees and evenly illuminates the scene. That's what kept me
out of the prairie areas and in the woods on this day. The use of a
polarizing filter would have helped quite a bit but... Yep, I left the
filter kit at home in another bag. Grrrrr!
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