Tim Ernst wows the crowd

Mena may have been his last show

Article and *photos by Ethan Nahté

Outdoor photographer Tim Ernst had a captive audience of 200-plus people for his first, and last, appearance at The Ouachita Center on the UARM campus this weekend. The presentation wasn’t his last event because of any negative reason, but more on that in a moment.

“I’ve always loved coming to Mena. I just don’t get here very often. It’s the first time I’ve been on campus. It looked to me all the seats were full. It’s kind of a dreary day outside, which was in my favor because they didn’t have anything else to do,” he said with a grin. “They had to come inside and see me, so I really appreciate them.”

The event was hosted by Polk County’s Quality of Life with the assistance of a grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Ernst announced to the audience that this was his 1,510th presentation he has done. That’s a little over four years of his career if one was to divide that by 365 days.

“I started back in 1973 when I started working for the [U.S.] Forest Service at Blanchard Springs Caverns. I started giving programs in front of small groups there as part of our cave tour.”

Ernst pulled out his old shirt he wore as part of the USFS, pointing out that the badge on the shirt wasn’t even in use any longer as he modeled it for the audience.

Fifty years later, the crowd at the Mena show were part of a special moment.

“This is probably my last program I’m going to give because I’m basically retired from producing new picture books, which is what I’ve been promoting with the slide programs for the last several decades.”

Ernst also gave photography workshops for over 30 years, up until COVID-19 hit. He has since retired his workshops, as well. He had originally planned to retire his tours in 2020, but the pandemic changed those plans as it did for many creative types in various industries.

As any photographer can attest, once you’ve been bitten by the shutter bug, it’s in your blood and a part of you. Some- thing is always bound to capture a photographer’s eye, even if it’s something that others may not have noticed or seen in quite the same way. Ernst won’t be giving up the camera.

“That’s true. Fortunately, the camera I have with me all the time now,” Ernst said as he pulled out his phone, “fits in my back pocket. It takes pretty darn good pictures with phones these days.

“I still am doing nature photography, but it’s on a very limited basis now. It’s not a seven-day a week, 12 – 24 - hours per day, mentally as well as physically, especially when you live in Arkansas. Most of my projects have been Arkansas-only projects. There’s always something somewhere that it’s always possible to get a great photograph of out in nature. It’s my job to be there when that greatness happens, whether it’s light, an animal, waterfall, or something like that. I can’t take very many of them sitting at home. I can only work when I’m out there.

“Now that I’m not going to be doing it full time, I can go every now and then when