Dark And Stormy Night

Some storms were about to hit, so I decided to run out with my metal tripod and see if I could try to get some lightning pictures. I rushed over to Riverfront Park in North Little Rock, and set up under the new I-30 bridge. But of course, the storm system sort of fizzled. There was no lightning, but there were some cool clouds in the sky for a few minutes.

Ark. Museum of Fine Arts

The other day I had a chance to drive over to MacArthur Park and check out the fancy new Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. The museum (formally the Arkansas Arts Center) had been closed for five years while it underwent a massive renovation and expansion that cost about $160 million or so.

The museum first opened in 1937, and had expanded several times over the years. But those additions were now considered to be poorly-designed, which made navigating the galleries awkward and kept the museum's attractions separated and distant from each other. The five-year renovation removed those additions, and added on 133,000 square feet of new space. The redesign uncovered the original building's art deco facade, which had been somewhat hidden behind one of those additions for the last few decades.



In front of the entrance is the sculpture Large Standing Figure: Knife Edge, by Henry Moore. The statue was originally purchased by the city of Little Rock to be placed in the old Metrocentre Mall, the short-lived downtown pedestrian mall in the 80s. From there it was moved to a spot along Capitol Avenue for awhile, before being moved here to the museum. If the sculpture looks familiar, a copy of it can be seen in the 80s film The Breakfast Club. In one scene, Judd Nelson hangs from the top of the statue, something that the docents at the AMFA would probably frown upon.



Out front were a few other sculptures, which I did not recognize from any other 80s movies.



Perhaps the most dramatic part of the new expansion is the "Cultural Living Room," which is described as "a new glass-panelled pavilion, topped with an undulating pleated roof. Suspended over the courtyard with expansive, downward-sloping windows, the structure hovers like a control panel, offering views of the museum’s interior from below and panoramic views of the original façade. The light-filled space...is furnished with ample seating and a custom bar, fulfilling a long-felt gap in the museum’s offerings by providing a communal area for patrons to gather and socialise."



And right next door is another one of city's landmarks, the old Little Rock Arsenal Building. It was built in 1840 and also has been home to a museum for many decades.



And one last shot from the Museum, which was closing when I got there so I didn't get a chance to go inside. Hopefully will be making a trip in there soon...

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

Some stormy weather was moving across the state, which meant it might be a good time to get the camera out for a few pictures. So after getting the kids to bed, I hurried downtown in the hopes that I might get some interesting pictures of lightning. So naturally, the storms never produced any good lightning over downtown Little Rock. They did succeed in making lots of rain, which managed to soak my camera.

My first stop was at this parking deck downtown. I've been going here for awhile, trying to get a good shot of lightning over the view of the Little Rock skyline. And once again, I had no luck with the lightning. So I settled for this shot instead....



On the other side of the parking deck is this view of the old Albert Pike Hotel. The hotel was built in 1929, and has been converted into apartments.



I got back in the car and drove around downtown. I really wished I had an umbrella with me when I ran out in the pouring rain to get this shot of the Old State House.



From there I drove around a bit more, and made a few more stops. I was trying to get some artsy-fartsy pictures of reflections in the rain puddles. But I didn't really manage to get any good pictures. What I did manage was to get my poor camera soaked, which caused it to start acting a little funky. The rain started to let off by the time I made it to the Junction Bridge.



I headed over to the state capitol, and tried for a few pictures there. It wasn't raining, but the low storm clouds managed to capture the shadow of the capitol dome lights.



I made one last stop at the historic Little Rock Central High School before heading home and putting the camera in a bag of rice. The school and the grounds look great, it's crazy to think that the school is now almost a hundred years old.

Into The Fog

We've had a lot of foggy days and nights recently, which makes for some really neat conditions for photography. So one night after getting the kids to bed, I grabbed the camera and tripod and headed out again to try to get a few pictures. The first stop was the Big Dam Bridge, which had red and green lights for Christmas that seemed to fade out into the thick fog.



I wasn't the only one out there. There was some strange creature lurking in the water that would swim around and then crash into the water, creating a huge splash. I'm not going to lie, it scared the crap out of me the first time it happened. I'm not sure what kind of creature it was - an otter, a beaver, or something like the Loch Ness Monster?? I managed to get a little video of it with my cell phone:



After that I decided it wasn't best to continue lurking by the river so I headed downtown. The first stop was at MacArthur Park and the old Little Rock Arsenal. The arsenal was built in 1841 and is one of the oldest buildings in the city.



From there I headed over to the intersection of Capitol and Main Streets, which is the location of the city's Christmas tree. The tree was overshadowed by the Union Plaza Building, whose lights shined bright in the fog.



And a wider view of the tree with the sculpture "Helios."



For some reason there weren't very many people out and about on a gloomy and foggy night, so I managed to get a shot from the middle of Capitol Avenue without having to worry about being run over.



And one more shot of the Union Plaza Building, which was loosely inspired by this photograph by Edward Steichen of the Flatiron Building.



It was starting to get late so I hurried over to the Junction Bridge. This is the view from the top of the bridge (taken by the elevator, I did not climb to the top!).



And the view from along the bridge.



And a shot of the bridge from the riverbank. Was a little surprised at how still the water in the river was, which did make for a nice reflection.



I made one more stop, at the Arkansas State Capitol.



I walked around the grounds, and then ended up crawling along the wet pavement to get this shot of the Capitol reflected in a large puddle.



It must have been a slow night for the Capitol security guards, since a state capitol police car parked nearby and watched me while I innocently walked around taking pictures.



And a shot of the front, which you can see the blue "PEACE" letters that hang in the small circular windows. The lights were first added during World War II, and have been a part of the capitol's holiday light displays ever since.



The state capitol police must have gotten bored since they drove away. So I took advantage of the lack of nearby cars and got one last shot from the middle of Capitol Avenue before finally heading home.

Clearing Fog

There is just something special about foggy days and nights. The way that light is diffused, and tall buildings fade into the deep mist. So the other night it was nice and foggy out, and after getting the kids to bed I grabbed the camera and tried to get a few pictures. I headed downtown and made a quick stop at the State Capitol:



But while I was there, the fog started to break up and dissipate. I hurried over a nearby parking deck and tried to get a few more pictures before it was completely gone.



The remaining fog was being blown away by the wind, which created some neat streaks in the sky during long exposures:





And one last shot, of the stately Cathedral of St. Andrew (which was built 1881). Just behind it is the Donaghey Building, which was built in 1926 and was Little Rock's first "skyscraper."

Sunset From The Junction Bridge

So the other day I saw on Twitter that the International Space Station was going to fly over Little Rock in a few hours. So I tried to think of an ideal spot to see it, and headed out to try to get a few pictures. Based on the directions on the tweet, I decided to head out to the Junction Bridge. It seemed like the ISS would appear in the horizon above the downtown skyline and then travel across the sky.

I managed to get there early enough to catch a nice little sunset, and got a few pictures while I waited for the ISS to appear.



And then I waited, and waited. The time the ISS was scheduled to fly over passed, and I never saw it. Maybe it was still too bright in the sky to see it, or I was looking in the wrong direction. But alas, I missed it. But since I was there, I got a few more pictures of downtown Little Rock from the bridge...



And one more...

Downtown In Infrared

While heading home I decided to quick swing through downtown Little Rock with the infrared camera to try to get a few pictures. The first stop was the venerable old Pulaski County Courthouse, which dates back to 1887.



And about a century after the courthouse was built, its neighbor the Stephens Building was constructed (in 1985). At 25 stories, it's the fourth tallest building in Little Rock.



And then across the street from the Stephens Building is the Old State House, which was built between 1832-1842 as the first capitol building for the state of Arkansas.



And then just down the road is the art deco Robinson Center, built in 1939. This was taken from the small park across the street:

Riverfront Park

The other day I had some free time, so I took a quick trip with the infrared camera to Riverfront Park in downtown Little Rock. There are a few neat spots as the park stretches across the banks of the Arkansas River. There is the Junction Bridge, which was an old railroad crossing that has been converted into a pedestrian bridge.



Nearby is a tunnel made of vines (I posted a picture of it in the last post). It was a popular spot, since it was a nice shady spot to sit on a warm June day. I got this picture from the inside:



Further down the park is the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden, which now contains over 100 sculptures from artists across the country. One of the sculptures was this blue pony, in a piece called "Dancing Pony" by Kevin Box. According to the city of Little Rock's website: "Origami, paper planes, and crumpled ideas inspire the artist’s constant exploration with a love of paper. The sculpture piece is a result of collaborating with the origami master Te Tui Fu."



It proved to be a cool place to walk through, since the mix of sculptures with the decorative grasses and plants in the gardens looked really neat with the infrared camera. Here you can see a sculpture called "Mirage" by Ted Schaal on the right, and one called "Wiseguy" by Tim Cherry on the left. In the back is a sculpture called "Bunny Bump" by Laurel Peterson Gregory.



Nearby was this sculpture called "Boris," which was modeled after a French Bulldog owned by Dr. Dean Kumpuris who is an At-Large City Director and who was the person who came up with the idea of having a sculpture garden here in Riverfront Park. One could argue that it's not shocking that a sculpture of the dog owned by the person who runs the park was selected to be there. But then again, I would totally put a sculpture of my dogs in the park if I had the chance.



This is one more view of the sculpture "Bunny Bump," by Laurel Peterson Gregory. The city's website says: "The artist depicts playfulness and lightness of heart with bunnies having a blast doing the bump. Lines generate of sense of motion, and the use of no facial features allow the viewer to imagine expressions."



Nearby was this sculpture, called "Renewal Ritual" by Denny Haskew. It features a row of people sitting cross-legged, which the city website describes as "Wanting to show the ritual used by a couple to renew their commitment to one another, then using many colors or people and different conversations between different genders it shows society ability to sit down and converse with one another." Which reminds me of a story, of back when sitting cross-legged like this was called sitting "Indian-style" (kids now call it "criss-cross applesauce"). But when I was a little kid, I thought that it was called sitting "Indian-style" because that's how we were taught to sit at the elementary school I attended at the time - Indian Hills Elementary in North Little Rock.



And a wide shot of the sculpture garden, with the Little Rock Marriott hotel in the background.





On the left is a sculpture titled "Brazil" by artist Carol Gold. The city website describes this piece as "After her visit to Brazil, the artist expressed a reaction to the disparity between the wealthy and the very poor. ‘Brazil’ is one of a series of mostly male, silent and solitary figures."



And this view looking towards the river, with the Broadway Bridge in the distance.



After that I walked back the car and started driving home. But along the way I stopped for one last picture, from the backside of the State Capitol: