The End Of The Year

We are now in strange time that is the week between Christmas and New Years, where some people are off work but others are working and the kids are all home from school. It's even odder here in Arkansas, with unseasonably warm temperatures (it was 76 degrees outside yesterday). It doesn't seem right to be looking at Christmas lights and seeing people walking around in shorts, but that's global warming for you.

But speaking of weather, it was really foggy out the other night. So, of course, I grabbed the camera and ran out to get a few pictures. And as always, the really cool fog then immediately started to dissipate. But I headed to downtown Little Rock, and ended up at the top of a parking deck by Main Street. This is the view of the Simmons Bank building, next to another building with a bit of brick that looks like it was ripped off like a piece of paper from a book.



And the view from another parking deck, which overlooks the intersection of Main and Third Streets.



And then on Christmas Eve, we took the kids over to the State Capitol to see the decorations inside. It was actually an ideal time to visit - there really weren't that many people inside. I guess the government offices were closed, since there weren't any politicians or staffers around (and I'd much rather bump into the Wet Bandits/Sticky Bandits, Mr. Potter, The Abominable Snowmonster, or the Grinch than bump into most of our elected officials).



It was good that thing the Capitol was empty because Elliott decided to grab onto a flag pole and pull on it, causing it to crash onto the marble floor with a loud crash that seemed to echo across the entire building. Luckily the security guards didn't throw us out after that.



And one last shot from the Capitol - hope everyone reading this had a great holiday and a good end to 2025!

At The End Of The Day

The other day, there were some clouds in the sky that looked like they could make an interesting sunset. So Jonah and I headed out to see, driving to Riverfront Park in North Little Rock. I set up the camera under the I-30 bridge while Jonah explored the river. It's really cool that he wants to tag along and go with me while I take pictures (or he was just wanting an excuse to get out of taking a bath and going to bed, who knows).

While the sunset wasn't as vibrant as we hoped, there was still some nice color in the clouds hanging over downtown Little Rock that night:

After Hours

The other night I had just gotten Elliott to sleep when a loud jolt of thunder shook the house. Luckily Elliott is a pretty heavy sleeper, so it didn't seem to bother him. But the sudden pop-up summer thunderstorm was a good excuse to go and grab the camera and run out to try to get some pictures. 

There is a parking deck downtown that I've thought would be an ideal place to try to get pictures of lightning over the Little Rock skyline. So I hurried over as lighting brightened the sky like the flashes from a bunch of paparazzi's. I got to the top of the deck and set up the camera. But of course, the thunderstorm started to fizzle out. I managed to get just one little bolt of lightning before the storm sputtered out.



The deck also provides a really nice view of the old Albert Pike Hotel, which was built in 1929.



The clouds cleared out after the storm, and the moon appeared low on the horizon. So I headed to the car and hurried out and ended up by the State Capitol building. The moon had an orange and rusty tint to it, and I found a spot to get a picture of it next to the dome of the Capitol. It took a few tries to get the right exposure, but ended up with this shot. For the record, this isn't a fake AI image. And it's not photoshopped to make the moon look larger. This was all in camera (the details, if you're interested: f/8.0, 1/30 second exposure, ISO 800, taken at 290 mm with a zoom lens).

Under The Bridge

The newly rebuilt I-30 bridge, which cost 634 million dollars and took four years to complete, recently opened up. And along with it, large swaths of Riverfront Park which had previously been home to construction equipment. I had some free time so I headed to the park, and set up the camera under the bridge for a few pictures.



The bridge is nice, I guess. I mean it accomplishes the goal of getting cars across the river. But it's a bit boring, though. For all the money they spent on it, could it have hurt them to make it look nicer? When the Golden Gate Bridge was built, it cost $35 million (which was the equivalent of $610 million in today's money). But for the same amount this looks like the basic and cheapest bridge option from the first Sim City game.

Out In The Snow

Enough of the snow had finally melted and I got the car out and tried to get a few pictures. The original plan was to go to Burns Park, but it was gated shut. So instead I went to downtown Little Rock to look around.



The first stop was MacArthur Park and the Museum of Fine Arts. Some bumps in the snow were catching the late afternoon light and creating some interesting shadows.



The museum was open, and it looked like there was a wedding being set up inside. I can't imagine how much stress that bride went through when that much snow dropped right before the wedding.



And then the old Little Rock Arsenal building, surrounded by a blanket of snow:







From there I headed over to the Old State House (The Snowld State House?). It looks like it hadn't opened at all since the snow started, since the sidewalks and grounds hadn't been cleared of snow yet.





I headed down Markham Street and ended up at Union Station, which had a few tracks through the snow in the parking lot.



It was starting to get dark when I got to the State Capitol building.



A path had been cleared on the sidewalk, although it was still icy on the steps (maybe I should have slipped and fallen so I could sue the state for damages!). If you look closely, you can see someone built a little snowman on the steps.



And this is the view from the Capitol, looking down Capitol Avenue towards downtown.



It was starting to get dark, but I made one last stop along Capitol Avenue. This is the view looking back up the street towards the Capitol. The snow has a bit of a yellow tint on it, which is from the sodium vapor street lights (instead of the usual cause of yellow snow).

Another Another Foggy Night

Again, a dense fog settled over the city like a weighted blanket. I gathered the camera and tripod and hurried out to take a few pictures. This time I went back by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in MacArthur Park, and tried to get a few pictures of it reflected in a large rain puddle. I was concentrating on getting the shot composed and in-focus when I was startled by a voice. It said something about an emergency call and assistance needed. It sounded like it was someone talking right by me, and I looked around to see if maybe a museum security guard was walking by. But the museum was closed, and no one was around. Then I realized the voice was from a nearby fire station, across the park. Even if the fog was cutting down on visibility, it seemed like it was amplifying the sound. Very quickly the station doors opened up and a fire truck raced out. Then a quiet settled back over the park, nearly as thick as the fog.







I walked over to the old Little Rock Arsenal building, which was built in the 1840s and is one of the oldest buildings in the city.



There are a few concrete benches here, that are really large slabs. But they had a slim layer of rainwater collected on top, and I tried to get the tripod set low enough to get a good picture. And in my struggle with the tripod, I managed to break it. Like somehow snapped off one of the legs. Whoops. But I managed to still get some sort of shot out of it by just resting the camera on the slab. Which if I had done first then the tripod would be in one piece. Oh well.



And there were a few of those slabs in front of the Art Museum, so I tried to get a similar shot.



I went back to the car with my new two-legged tripod (bi-pod?), and hurried home. Luckily I had saved an old tripod for emergencies, and found it in the garage. I turned around and then went back out into the fog. This was the view of the Junction Bridge in Riverfront Park:





And then the view from the top of the bridge (which is right by the elevator). The end of the bridge disappears into the mist, and you can just barely make out the USS Razorback submarine.









From the bridge, I walked through the park and got a picture of the lights on the Main Street Bridge from a small structure called The Belvedere. I'm assuming it's named after the TV show Mr. Belvedere?



And then from there I walked over to the top of a nearby parking deck, which has a nice view from the top that looks down on the River Market and President Clinton Avenue. This is usually one of the busier parts of town, but it was pretty calm and quiet that night.



It was starting to get late so I needed to head home, but I made one last stop at the State Capitol. Luckily the new camera has weatherproofing, since it was pretty much sitting right on top of this puddle.

Downtown Again

It was supposed to be another foggy night - the National Weather Service even put out a dense fog advisory for us. So I dutifully gathered up all the camera gear and headed downtown to take pictures. Except, when I got there it wasn't foggy yet. Oh well. But the lack of fog actually meant that you could see the lights on the capitol from the freeway this time.



Next I drove by the Museum of Fine Arts, which was lit up brightly.



And then I headed over to the Clinton Park Bridge, which had a nice reflection in the still waters of the river.







Of course by this time fog had drifted in and was starting to obscure the tops of the downtown buildings. But it was getting too close to bedtime so it was time to head home. Luckily the next day would be really foggy again, more on that later...

Another Foggy Night

We had gotten both kids to bed the other night, and my wife I decided to spend a relaxing evening catching up on some TV shows. We had gotten all nice and cozy when one of the dogs let out a vile and noxious fart. One of those disgusting ones that threatened to strip the paint off the walls and to wake up the sleeping children. I rushed the dogs to the backyard, and saw that it was another foggy night outside. So I grabbed the camera gear and headed out into the fresh air to try to take a few more pictures.

I love taking pictures in the fog, so the dog passing gas was very fortuitous (or fartuitous?). The city was cloaked in a thick blanket of fog. I drove downtown and was a little surprised that you couldn't see the state capitol from I-630. Not just the building itself, but even the bright Christmas lights were hidden by the fog. I drove closer and they barely managed to appear out of the gloom, like a mirage slowly revealing itself.  





It was pretty quiet out there that night, and not much traffic on the roads. I guess most people had the good sense to stay home.



I couldn't stay out too late since I had work early the next morning, but got one last shot of the Pulaski County Courthouse. Thankfully the dog had cleared out whatever nasties were plaguing her by the time I got home.

Fireworks At The Capitol

On the first weekend of December, the state of Arkansas puts on a little fireworks show after the holiday lights are switched on at the capitol. It's a great tradition, and still remains as one of the truly great things that our state government does for us every year.



But Christmas isn't the only time there have been bangs and explosions at our state capitol. There was also the time that the capitol was used for a 1986 TV movie called Under Siege (not to be confused with the movie where Steven Seagal is a chef on a boat and has to stop terrorists). In this Under Siege, bad guys are attacking Washington DC. They shoot rockets at the Capitol and do other bad things. Since presumably the Capitol in DC was unavailable, the makers of the movie set off explosions at the Arkansas capitol instead.



And then there is the cinematic masterpiece that is Stone Cold, from 1991. This time, some bad guys have attacked the capitol. But luckily Brian Bosworth is there to stop them. On the third floor, one of them foolishly tries to drive his motorcycle at Mr. Bosworth. He dodges at the right moment, sending the motorcycle through the window and into a helicopter.

Into The Fog

After taking pictures of the downtown Christmas tree, I got back in the car and started driving around. Away from the bright and cheerful colors on the tree, the fog made everything look moody and somber.







They say that fog comes on little cat feet. And the fog did quietly and steadily increase, so that the tops of the downtown skyscrapers seemed to dissolve away.







I headed back by the Capitol building again. It was quiet there except for the security guards who seemed to be on constant patrol (they drove by several times and were probably really bored). They only other people out were the cleaning crew, who were leaving the building in a large group.  



The thick fog amplified two bright spotlight beams, which were pointed at the Capitol dome. The lights are mounted on a street light across the street, and if you stand under the light it makes an interesting effect where it just looks like two beams are shining down from Space onto the dome. The joke is that it looks like the aliens are maybe trying to beam up some of our strange state legislators (and the governor) to return to their home planets.



It was starting to get late, but I made one last stop before heading home. I drove by the offices of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, which sits on the river by the Baring Cross Bridge. You can get a really good view of the bridge from their parking lot, and as I drove up I saw a train was starting to cross the old bridge. I grabbed the camera and tripod and ran out of the car, hoping to get a shot set up in time. Of course, the center column of the tripod decided this would be a good time for it to detach and fall to the ground. I jammed it back in and got the tripod set up. I managed to just barely get the camera onto the tripod with enough time to set up a shot before the train passed through the bridge. Still shocked that it was actually all in focus.



The train passed over the bridge, and loudly headed down the tracks towards Union Station with a bang and a clatter. I carefully gathered up the camera and then hurried across Cantrell Road (luckily not much traffic on this late night). I managed to get this shot - it's a 20 second long exposure of the train as it rumbled on by. The rail cars turned into a blur as they made their way to the station, which was nearly obscured by the fog. I was only able to get three exposures here before the end of the train passed below. The cacophony of sound from the train quieted down, and was enveloped by the fog.