Greer Spring
The trail head is located approximately 18 miles south of Winona and 7 miles north of Alton on Missouri Highway 19 and close to the bridge that crosses the Eleven Point River. There is a gravel parking area on the west side of Highway 19 and public restrooms. No floating, no swimming, no wading, no disposable items, no pets without leashes allowed. The nearby Eleven Point River is equally pristine and undisturbed and offers, floating, swimming, wading, and crystal clear water.
Spring Water #4
Lets jump forward to November of 2010. This is one of those areas that can reveal more when the trees are bare. Fall and winter are my favorite times to photograph Greer Springs. Lets get the settings out of the way first. I am now shooting with a NIkon D700 and a Nikor 24-70 f/2.8 lens. For this shot I used an aperture of f/18, shutter speed of 10 seconds, and ISO of 200. This area can flood and this image represents for me a battle zone with its fallen trees, and branches left behind from the receding waters. I really liked the way the water tapered to the background as did the rocks on either side. It was an overcast day which helped account for sure a long exposure. Greater variety of colors between the oranges of the leaves, greens and yellows of the moss, blue highlights of the water, and greys and browns of the trees and rocks. If I were to shoot this scene today I would use an ND 6-stop filter, lower ISO, and probably a polarizer. I don't think I would take a series of bracketed shots if I had the same lighting.
