Thursday, August 31, 2017
Scott
The small town of Scott is only about 20 miles from Little Rock, but it is a world apart from the capitol city. It is an old town, filled with old farms, homes, churches and barns. The rich farmland has attracted people here for centuries, and most of the land is taken up by cotton and soybean fields. Interspersed throughout the fields you can still occasionally find traces of this area's farming history, including a few old sharecroppers houses. I'm not sure how old this one is, but it looks like some recent storms have damaged the roof.
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Scenic Route
After a quick visit to Fayetteville to see my brother, I decided to take the scenic way home. Which meant forgoing the freeway and instead taking the Pig Trail south through the thick woods of the Ozark National Forest. The Pig Trail is one of the prettiest drives in the state - the road curves through the mountains, and is often flanked by tall trees.
Near the town of Cass I turned onto Hwy. 215 and headed east. This is another scenic road, passing through more forests and even running parallel to the Mulberry River for awhile. Along the way is this old church, which sits just above the river.
There wasn't much traffic on the road, so it was ok to run out and get a few pictures.
As we got closer to Clarksville, we passed by this old store. It's now closed and abandoned, with overgrown trees surrounding the outside of the building.
I headed into Clarksville, where I was feeling a little nostalgic. This is going to make me sound old, but twenty years ago I was just beginning my freshman year of college at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville. So for old times sake, I drove by the campus to have a quick look around. Surprisingly, things haven't changed all that much in the two decades since I first stepped foot there (I'm sure the cafeteria food probably hasn't improved much). I ended up parking and walking onto campus to see if I could get some pictures inside the chapel, which is the oldest and prettiest building at the University. But of course, the doors were locked. I was a little frustrated that they didn't roll out the red carpet for such a valued and important alumni such as myself. Oh well. Maybe they're mad that I still owe on my student loans?
I made one more stop, visiting an old bridge over Spadra Creek in Clarksville. The bridge dates back to at least 1930, and is now part of a trail that runs for several miles along the creek. I got a few pictures before heading back to the car and heading on home.
Near the town of Cass I turned onto Hwy. 215 and headed east. This is another scenic road, passing through more forests and even running parallel to the Mulberry River for awhile. Along the way is this old church, which sits just above the river.
There wasn't much traffic on the road, so it was ok to run out and get a few pictures.
As we got closer to Clarksville, we passed by this old store. It's now closed and abandoned, with overgrown trees surrounding the outside of the building.
I headed into Clarksville, where I was feeling a little nostalgic. This is going to make me sound old, but twenty years ago I was just beginning my freshman year of college at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville. So for old times sake, I drove by the campus to have a quick look around. Surprisingly, things haven't changed all that much in the two decades since I first stepped foot there (I'm sure the cafeteria food probably hasn't improved much). I ended up parking and walking onto campus to see if I could get some pictures inside the chapel, which is the oldest and prettiest building at the University. But of course, the doors were locked. I was a little frustrated that they didn't roll out the red carpet for such a valued and important alumni such as myself. Oh well. Maybe they're mad that I still owe on my student loans?
I made one more stop, visiting an old bridge over Spadra Creek in Clarksville. The bridge dates back to at least 1930, and is now part of a trail that runs for several miles along the creek. I got a few pictures before heading back to the car and heading on home.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Junction Bridge
I don't know how many pictures I've taken at the Junction Bridge over the years (there are probably way too many posts on this blog just titled "Junction Bridge" already), but it's a hard place to resist taking pictures. It has to be one of the best places to get pictures of the Little Rock skyline and the river.
The Junction Bridge is an old rail bridge that was first constructed way back in 1884, which was later converted into a pedestrian bridge in 2008.
It's also a great spot because you can take a few pictures and then head over to the Flying Saucer for a drink if you'd like (which I did right after taking these pictures).
The Junction Bridge is an old rail bridge that was first constructed way back in 1884, which was later converted into a pedestrian bridge in 2008.
It's also a great spot because you can take a few pictures and then head over to the Flying Saucer for a drink if you'd like (which I did right after taking these pictures).
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Broadway Bridge
The Broadway Bridge first opened in 1923, and served traffic crossing the Arkansas River for several decades until the state highway department decided to replace it. The bridge was torn down last year (after several attempts to bring it down, the bridge was stubborn). The new replacement bridge opened a few months ago, with a cost of only $98.4 million. While I was downtown last week, I tried to get a few shots of the new bridge. So here's a shot from the north side of the river, looking south towards downtown Little Rock.
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Delta Star Trails
A cold front passed through the state last weekend, bringing with it some much-needed lower temperatures and a significant drop in the humidity. Along with making it actually tolerable to be away from air conditioning in the summer, the low humidity also meant that there was some extremely clear skies at night. This would turn out to be perfect conditions for astrophotography.
I decided Sunday afternoon that I should probably take advantage of this by actually going out to take pictures. So I charged the batteries and gathered all the camera gear, and headed out to the Delta. There was a spot that I had actually visited a few weeks before that I thought would be a perfect spot for getting star trail pictures, and luckily it's only about an hour away from home. Along the way I made a quick stop at this field, near the small town of Coy.
At first glance, it just looks like a low hill that stands up from the field that surrounds it. But this spot is actually quite historic - this is an ancient mound that was built by a Native American culture that occupied this area from around the years 700 - 1000. Not much is known about the people who built this, but they are also the same ones that built the nearby Toltec Mounds.
From there I drove further into the Delta towards this old building. According to the owners of the property, this building was used to store and to dry rice. The machinery inside is out of date and not used anymore, but it is still the tallest building for many miles. It was amazingly clear outside, and the sky above it was covered with a countless number of stars.
It was also surrounded by a countless number of mosquitoes. I was attacked by a relentless swarm of mosquitoes while I attempted to set up the camera and tripod. I'm not trying to exaggerate, but there was a literal cloud of mosquitoes that descended on me like sharks. I tried to get the camera set up as quickly as possible while being feasted on by a unending onslaught of mosquitoes. And of course, bug spray was the one thing that I forgot to bring with me.
I did manage to get everything set up, and left the camera to take pictures for about an hour and a half (luckily it wasn't carried away by the mosquitoes). When I got home, I found some cortizone and then combined the nearly 200 pictures from that night together to create these star trails. The camera was looking due north towards Polaris, the North Star.
I decided Sunday afternoon that I should probably take advantage of this by actually going out to take pictures. So I charged the batteries and gathered all the camera gear, and headed out to the Delta. There was a spot that I had actually visited a few weeks before that I thought would be a perfect spot for getting star trail pictures, and luckily it's only about an hour away from home. Along the way I made a quick stop at this field, near the small town of Coy.
At first glance, it just looks like a low hill that stands up from the field that surrounds it. But this spot is actually quite historic - this is an ancient mound that was built by a Native American culture that occupied this area from around the years 700 - 1000. Not much is known about the people who built this, but they are also the same ones that built the nearby Toltec Mounds.
From there I drove further into the Delta towards this old building. According to the owners of the property, this building was used to store and to dry rice. The machinery inside is out of date and not used anymore, but it is still the tallest building for many miles. It was amazingly clear outside, and the sky above it was covered with a countless number of stars.
It was also surrounded by a countless number of mosquitoes. I was attacked by a relentless swarm of mosquitoes while I attempted to set up the camera and tripod. I'm not trying to exaggerate, but there was a literal cloud of mosquitoes that descended on me like sharks. I tried to get the camera set up as quickly as possible while being feasted on by a unending onslaught of mosquitoes. And of course, bug spray was the one thing that I forgot to bring with me.
I did manage to get everything set up, and left the camera to take pictures for about an hour and a half (luckily it wasn't carried away by the mosquitoes). When I got home, I found some cortizone and then combined the nearly 200 pictures from that night together to create these star trails. The camera was looking due north towards Polaris, the North Star.