The Fog Is Getting Thicker...

The fog from that morning got thicker as the day went on, and by evening there was hardly any visibility. Which was, of course, perfect time to get out and take pictures again. After getting both kids to bed I hurried over to the Big Dam Bridge.



It was a little eerie to see the bridge seem to fade out and disappear into the fog.





Despite the thick fog, there were still several people out walking on the bridge.



As I was standing here taking photos, a loud siren started to blare. I'm not going to lie, it was a bit startling. I may or may not have jumped and did a little scream. Apparently it's a warning to boaters (which there weren't any) that water was about to released from the dam.



I walked away from the siren, and followed the bridge as it passed over the Murray Lock. From here, the buildings and lights drifted off into the foggy expanse of the river.



And one last shot from the bridge, as the fog swallowed and enveloped the night.

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.

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.

Foggy Night At The Big Dam Bridge

It was another foggy night, so after getting the kids to bed I grabbed the camera gear and headed out to the Big Dam Bridge. This is the view of the bridge, and its purple lights, reflected in a rain puddle.



From there I hurried over and started walking across the bridge, which runs for 4,226 across the Arkansas River. But with the thick fog, it was hard to see all the way across the river.





And one last shot from the bridge. After this the fog just started to fade away, almost like magic.

Finding Nebo

It was still pouring down rain as I drove towards home, but I did have enough time to make one last stop. So I exited off the freeway and made the curvy drive up to Mount Nebo State Park near Dardanelle. Mount Nebo sits at an elevation of 1,750 feet, which isn't that much compared to the mountains out West but it does rise dramatically above the Arkansas River Valley. I reached the top and, like White Rock Mountain, it too was covered by a thick blanket of fog. This was the view from the playground/picnic area:









Mount Nebo has been a state park since 1927, but before that it was a popular resort location. In the 1890s, two large hotels were on the mountain, each with over 100 rooms. Visitors would ride steamboats up the Arkansas River, since it was always a little bit cooler on top of the mountain. Plus there are a few springs which people thought may have had medicinal powers. The hotels are gone now, but you can still find a few old buildings scattered across the park. This building here was once a maintenance shed that was built in by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The area that is surrounded by the low rock wall used to house a well and pumping equipment.



Nearby was this small creek, which ran through a carpet of pine needles.



It was time to head back down the mountain towards home, but I couldn't help but stop a few more times to get pictures in the fog.





And the view looking back towards the mountain...



And then one last stop from the trip, before heading off to home. I drove by this old church in Dardanelle and quickly pulled over for a few shots...