Little Rock Lightning

A line of heavy thunderstorms recently moved across the state, bringing some much-needed rain and also a lot of lightning. I was sitting at home watching TV when the storms hit, and decided that I needed to head outside and make an attempt at catching lightning pictures (instead of sitting safely at home, like any sensible person would do). So I grabbed the camera (and the metal tripod, always a smart thing to carry in a lightning storm) and drove towards downtown Little Rock.

I headed to a parking deck that provides a pretty decent view looking west towards the downtown skyline. But when I got there, the bulk of the storm had shifted, and most of the lightning was off towards the south. So I hurried over and tried to get a few pictures pointing in that direction, which turned out to include a view of the old Albert Pike Hotel. The hotel was built in 1929, and was once one of the most luxurious hotels in the state. It was converted to apartments in the 1970s.

Getting any pictures of lightning involves huge amounts of luck. You have to be taking a picture in the exact second that the lightning strikes, and hopefully the shot won't be over-or-under exposed or be blurry. The camera just happened to be taking a picture when this bolt dropped down, sending electricity dancing in the air above the old hotel.



And another shot, taken a few minutes later: