Lorance Creek

Lorance Creek is a neat little nature area, located a short drive from Little Rock. It's always worth making the short drive out there to take pictures, so I headed out there with the infrared camera.



I wasn't the only one out there, I was joined by a gang of mosquitoes and bugs that tried their best to make me their dinner (and of course I forgot to bring bug spray). I got a few pictures and survived without being turned into a big bug buffet.

Hester-Lenz House

In 1836, construction began on the Hester-Lenz house in Saline County. Originally built as a simple two-story dogtrot home, subsequent owners added onto and expanded the home. The building is still standing, although it is now almost surrounded by suburban sprawl.



The home was occupied until the 1990s, but is abandoned now.



The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Unfortunately it was then added onto the list of Most Endangered Places in 2011 by Preserve Arkansas. The home is in rough shape, and now there are concerns that it could be torn down in the near future as the road in front of the house is widened.

Out By Scott

I wanted to take the new infrared camera out for a few more pictures, so I took a few hours off work to drive through the flat Delta lands around Scott and Keo. There are lots of old abandoned structures out there, and a few swamps too. Plus the day was going to be somewhat cool (only in the 80s, much better than the nearly 100 degree temperatures that would happen later that week).

The first stop was just outside of Scott, in a spot near the old Marlsgate Plantation and Bearskin Lake.







Driving further down the road, I passed by this old tree that was growing right alongside the pavement.



I turned off the main road and went onto a bumpy and dusty gravel road that cut through the middle of soybean fields.



The road eventually ran by this old church, which looks to have been abandoned for quite awhile. The cornerstone on the church said that it had been built in the 1960s. There's no telling when it was abandoned.







I headed back to the main road, which then ran by this orchard of pecan trees. I pulled over for a few more pictures.





South of Keo was this batch of metal silos, which had a tractor parked nearby.



Just down the road was another old church, which also looks like it has been abandoned for some time. Part of the roof looks like it has collapsed, and hundreds of wasp nests guard the doors and interior (I wasn't brave enough to go inside).



The next stop was an oxbow lake, which was once the main channel of the Arkansas River. It it's now closed off and home to thousands of tupelo and cypress trees.





Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to drive over to Pecan Alley, a stretch of road that is lined with century-old pecan trees. Unfortunately, it looks like a recent storm did some significant damage on the trees here. Several trees had been knocked down, and many had lost big limbs.



Just down the road is another abandoned church, one that I've been taking pictures of for many years. So I made one more stop, and got this view from under a large tree that casts shade over a few graves in a small cemetery.



I drove by another set of silos, the same ones that I took a star trail picture at earlier this year. The silos were surrounded by grass and soybean fields.



The soybean fields stretched off towards the horizon, which looked kinda neat in infrared.



It was time to head back home, but I made one last stop at the old silo which seems to tower over all the old buildings in Scott.

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: