Artsy

Recently, a brand new sculpture was unveiled in downtown Little Rock and the intersection of Capitol and Main Streets. "Helios," by LR artist Hunter Brown, consists of two metallic bands that rise up 24 feet.



At the top is a reflective orb, which will probably quickly become a popular subject for people taking pictures. It's kinda like a miniature version of the Cloud Gate in Chicago.

Little Rock Infrared

I had some spare time one day, so I decided to take the new infrared camera out for another spin. It was a bright and sunny day, which was perfect conditions for infrared photography. I drove through downtown Little Rock and made a few stops at some of the city landmarks. The first stop was the State Capitol:



And then a stop at the iconic Little Rock Central High School:







Then back on over to the Union Station:





The old Little Rock Arsenal Building in MacArthur Park:



The Junction Bridge over the Arkansas River:



And one last shot, taken across the river in North Little Rock, because no phototrip in central Arkansas would be complete without a shot of The Old Mill:

Infrared BW

For my birthday I got a new camera - well technically it's not new, I guess. It's a used camera that has been converted to shoot in infrared black and white. Back in the olden days when I used to shoot film, I used to love shooting infrared black and white film. But it was notoriously tricky to use, and there were very few places that processed it back then (and nowadays there isn't anywhere in the state that does). I've been wanting to get an infrared converted digital camera for years, so I'm thrilled to be able to get out and take lots of pictures with it.

I got a used Olympus OM-D conversion, mostly as a way to use my old Olympus lenses from a few years back when I used to shoot with an Olympus camera. The first place I tried the camera out was the covered bridge located just outside of Little Rock. I took a few pictures but was perplexed that there was a weird smudge in most of the photos. Was I doing something wrong? Was there a problem with the camera? Nope! Turns out that I didn't bother to clean the old lens, which had been collecting dust for a few years...



The next day I headed back out (after cleaning the lens), and got this shot from along a trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park:

4th of July

After last year's 4th of July fireworks show was cancelled, it was nice to be able to be able to head downtown to watch the show this year. Jonah was excited because he got to stay up late and go see the show (Elliott, at 10 months old, was deemed too young still to attend. Sorry, kiddo). So we headed down to Riverfront Park in North Little Rock, which really wasn't all that crowded. Most people were still keeping their distance from each other. And the view of the fireworks show wasn't too shabby either....