Two Rivers

One evening last week, there were some interesting clouds in the sky. The clouds might make for a cool sunset, so Jonah and I hurried over to Two Rivers Park. We headed to the pedestrian bridge over the Little Maumelle River, but stopped to get a few pictures of some distant storm clouds that hanging over the I-430 Bridge.



And those interesting clouds did indeed make for a pretty cool sunset. They turned a deep orange as the sun sank below the low foothills of the Ouachita Mountains.



We stayed for a bit, as the light continued to fade out and the sky transitioned into night.

Two Rivers Sunset

Another big storm rolled through recently, but luckily without tornadoes this time. It was almost sunset when it hit, so I hurried over to Two Rivers Park in the hopes that it might produce some cool sunset colors. When I arrived the big storm clouds had already moved off to the east.

 

There was some lightning, which I tried to photograph but I had no luck. But at one point I turned around and saw this in the sky over the river, I managed to get a few pictures (with one in focus!) before the clouds moved off over the horizon.

Two Rivers

It was another dark and foggy night, so I headed over to Two Rivers Park to try to get a few pictures. The two rivers in the park are the Little Maumelle River and the Arkansas River, and the park sits right at the spot where the two rivers meet. A bridge crosses the Little Maumelle River, which usually provides views of the Arkansas River and the I-430 Bridge. But that night the fog was so thick that most of the bridge dissolved into the fog.



And the view from along the bridge. Surprisingly, there were a few other people out walking the bridge that night.



The thick fog began to break up, and drift down the river. Here you can see the I-430 Bridge briefly illuminated by the lights of a passing ambulance.



I headed across the bridge and followed the trail, until it went beyond the lights into the inky darkness of the forest.



And the same view reflected in a large puddle. I was startled by a bunch of deer that nonchalantly walked across the trail while I was trying to take pictures here.



Most of the fog had dissipated, so I headed back to the car. I stopped for one last shot, looking back over at the I-430 Bridge and the clearing fog.

Two Rivers Park Sunset

One of the best place in Little Rock to catch the sunset is at the Two Rivers Park Bridge. So the other night I headed out there in the evening, and was lucky enough to catch this sunset:



It had been a rainy day, which must have kept a lot of people away from the bridge. I only saw two other people out there, which is rare since this is such a popular spot. And since there wasn't anyone else around, I didn't feel bad putting the tripod in the middle of the bridge to take a few pictures.

Two Parks

I hope anyone who reads this blog hasn't grown tired of infrared pictures yet, because here are a few more! These two shots were taken at two different parks around Central Arkansas. The first was at the Park On The River in Maumelle. This place is aptly named, because it is indeed a park right along the Arkansas River.



The second picture was also taken at another wisely-named park - Two Rivers Park. That park is sandwiched between the Little Maumelle River and the Arkansas River, just outside of Little Rock. It also contains this neat stretch of trees:

Neowise

It took two tries, but we finally got some pictures of the Comet Neowise. The first night there were too many clouds off in the distance which blocked the view of the northwestern sky. But the next night conditions were much better (there was even a nice breeze which cooled things off a bit). I met my friend John at the Two Rivers Park Bridge, which we had hoped would provide a good view of the bridge. As a bonus, it also provided a good view of the sunset and Pinnacle Mountain.





Finally the sky darkened enough so that the stars appeared, but the comet wasn't actually visible with a naked eye (I'm guessing because of too much city light). But the comet appeared in long exposures on the camera, shining above the waters of the Little Maumelle River.



I'm going to assume that the comet is named after Keanu's character from The Matrix, and it is the brightest comet that we've been able to see here since Comet Hale–Bopp in the 1990s. This was my reaction when I saw the comet on the camera:

Keanu Reeves Whoa GIF from Keanureeves GIFs

And a wider shot of the comet, including a distant view of Pinnacle Mountain.



And then the view from the other side of the Two Rivers Park Bridge, looking across the Arkansas River towards the I-430 Bridge and the Big Dam Bridge. It's amazing that you can see so many stars even with all the conflicting city lights.