Something Fishy

My big present under the Christmas tree this year was a brand-new fisheye lens. So one night after getting the kids to bed, I headed downtown to make sure the lens worked ok. I ended up at the Clinton Park Bridge and started to set up the camera and tripod. But even though the trip was meant to test out a new lens, the first picture here is actually one taken with the iPhone (and a neat photo app called Spectre). There was a full moon that night, which is what made the clouds look so bright in the sky.



And here is the view of the bridge with the fisheye....



And the view of the bridge from the shoreline, with the Little Rock skyline poking out underneath the bridge.



And then the view from along the shore on the other side of the bridge, but for the next two shots I actually swithced over to a wide-angle lens. I was amazed at how still the river was, which created some nearly-perfect reflections in the water.



The reflections got messed up at one point because some sort of critter swam through the water nearby (it may have been an otter, or maybe something like the Loch Ness Monster?). Luckily it didn't attack anyone standing by the water taking pictures.



I headed over to the Junction Bridge and tried to get a few pictures with the fisheye lens. This is the view of the bridge, the skyline and the full moon hanging in the sky overhead.



It's amazing how many stars the fisheye lens was able to pick out in the sky (at least I hope those are stars and not just dead pixels in the camera). This is the view of the Main Street Bridge and the Junction Bridge, and in the middle is a sculpture named "The Center" by an artist named Chapel.



It was starting to get late, but I made one last stop at the State Capitol. I'm kinda surprised that I didn't get a visit from the security guards as I set up the camera and tripod right by the fancy brass doors at the front of the building. This is the shot looking straight up towards the columns, still showing off their festive holiday decorations. In the distance you can see Capitol Avenue and the rest of downtown.



I was able to get out again last night, and headed over to the Big Dam Bridge for a few pictures with the fisheye. This is the view of the bridge and the river, which also had some nice reflections (I'm guessing because the water level is really low right now).





And the view looking downriver, with the sky a mix of soft blue from the moon and warm orange from the city lights.



I switched out lenses to the wide-angle for this last shot, with some low clouds quickly moving across the sky above the Big Dam Bridge.