Little Rock

I was just 15 miles or so south of downtown Little Rock when I left Lorance Creek, and I decided to head up there for some pictures. Most of the pictures I've taken in the past few months have all been of trees and waterfalls, so some pictures of buildings would be a nice change of pace. My first stop was MacArthur Park.


That white dot in between the tree and the tower is actually the moon. Some history on this place, if you're interested. It was built in 1840, and is one of the oldest buildings in Little Rock (which was incorporated in 1831). It was built to be the arsenal for the city, and was the place where World War II general Douglas MacArthur was born in 1880.

My next stop was the Old State House, but I was disappointed to see that the trees there didn't have any fall color. The trees on the lawn are magnolias, which don't change color in the fall (I think). So instead I pointed the camera up and at the Stephens Building, which did have some trees around it with some color.


Just a block away is one of my favorite buildings downtown, the Pulaski County Courthouse.


Construction on the courthouse was completed in 1889. I like the architecture, it's interesting both in and out. I've only been inside of it once, when I went to early vote before the 2000 election (memorable because I managed to lock my keys in the car right outside of the building).


When I was out there with the camera pointed up at the building, I heard someone behind me say "see, other people are out taking pictures!" I turned around to see another photographer, clearly dragging along her significant other (who didn't seem to want to be out taking pictures that day). She walked by and gave a look that said "I know.."


Just a block to the west is another old building, built in 1881 as a post office and federal courthouse.


The Stephens Building poking over it adds a nice contrast in architecture styles. I tried to get a few more shots downtown, but the light was fading fast. So for now, this concludes your tour of downtown Little Rock...

Lorance Creek

On Saturday I stayed close to home, driving out to Lorance Creek, a swampy area located less than 15 miles from downtown Little Rock. The trees around here have lost most of their fall colors and leaves already, so I wasn't expecting much when I got there. The creek is a part of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, and has a short half-mile trail that leads to a boardwalk through a dense swamp.


A few of the cypress trees here still had some nice color, but most of them were already bare. The murky water was filled with fallen leaves...


And looking up at some of those cypress trees...


It was yet another sunny day, but the deep blue sky did look nice reflected in the water.


There wasn't much more to see in the swamp, so I turned by focus onto the neat boardwalk that stretches out above the water. I ended up with a lot more shots of the walkway than I did of the swamp itself.


And ok, just one more:


I gave up and made the short walk back to the car and tried to decide where to head next. Since I was so close to downtown, I thought I might hit up a few sights out there (no bridges, this time). More on that soon....

The Old Mill

Last Friday I had to work late, which left me some free time before work to take some pictures. I headed over to the Old Mill in North Little Rock, with the hope that there wouldn't be many other people there on a weekday. It wasn't that crowded, but there were quite a few other people there with cameras in hand.


The fall colors weren't all that great, and the light wasn't that great either. But I have a soft spot in my heart for the Old Mill, and it is always a good place to try to get pictures. It is so popular though that it is somewhat of a cliched place to get photos. Which reminds me of a story....in my senior year of high school, I joined the staff of the school literary magazine (which published photography). The faculty advisor had grown tired of seeing pictures of the Old Mill, since dozens of shots of it were always submitted to the magazine's photography contest. So she banned all pictures of the Old Mill from the magazine, and even set up a huge board in the magazine's office with hundreds of Old Mill pictures. It was sort of a Wall of Shame of Old Mill pictures. When I joined the staff, I looked at the board to see in my horror a few Old Mill pictures that I had submitted the previous year. But in my defense, they were good pictures!

And so here is one more shot of the great Old Mill...

Pinnacle Mountain

After leaving Lake Maumelle, there was just one more neat place to stop at - Pinnacle Mountain State Park. I didn't have time (or the energy) to climb to the top, so I instead went to the crowded area at the base of the mountain, and pointed my camera at a large cypress tree along the Little Maumelle River. The tree is quite old, and has a nice collection of cypress knees along the shore and in the water.


Notice all the debris and junk perched up in the tree in the background? Last time I was in this area, during the rains from Hurricane Gustav, this area of the park was flooded. That must be debris left from the high water.


The cypress tree is huge, this is a view looking up from the base...


About this time I got a call from a friend, who questioned my sanity since I was out taking pictures when I could instead be watching the MLS playoffs (one game had already started!). So I eventually left to watch the games, even if my heart really wasn't in it since FC Dallas missed the playoffs this season.

Lake Maumelle

Driving back from Flatside Pinnacle, I took a detour towards Lake Sylvia in the Ouachita National Forest. Lake Sylvia is small lake, and I thought there might be some nice color. The road finally turned from dirt to pavement, much to the pleasure of my poor car.


Well it turns out that Lake Sylvia is only open seasonally, and the access to the lake was closed. So I ended up heading back towards Little Rock, making a stop at another lake - Lake Maumelle.


I stopped at a little picnic area with some views of the lake, which actually serves as the source of drinking water for central Arkansas. There were some nice colors and reflections there...


But I soon headed off towards one last spot, Pinnacle Mountain....