03/15/14 Featured Arkansas Photography–Moonset over Downtown Little Rock between the bridges

Moonset over Downtown Little Rock between the bridges

Taken with a Nikon D800, 14-24 lens @ 14mm, iso 200 F 7.1 for 2 seconds, 2 part nodal pan featuring the moon-set. I like to spend time at this spot since it provides such a great view of both downtown Little Rock, and the various bridges over the Arkansas River. Since December of 2013, the all the bridges except the I-30 bridge are now lit up with a red light at light. This makes for quite a scene and is well worth the trip down even though it’s not in the best part of town. In this view you can see both the old Junction Bridge and the Main Street Bridge immediately behind it. This photo was taken in several parts as I had to shoot for the skyline, and then expose separately for the moon. The reflection was near perfect, but there was just a slight ripple on the water, however most of it seemed to be over on the Little Rock side so the moon’s reflection was not blurred that much. The sun was just starting to rise in the background behind the I-30 bridge.

02/21/14 Featured Arkansas Landscape Photography–Moonset and sunrise over Downtown Little Rock

Sunrise and moon-set over Downtown Little Rock

Taken with a Nikon D800 Nikon 14-24 Lens at 20mm, F 7.1, 1/20th of sec exposure, ISO 200. Photograph developed from a single file. The view of Downtown Little Rock is a great place to catch a sunrise especially if you can find the Arkansas River still to allow for the best reflections. I made this trip with Todd Smith, another noted photographer in Little Rock. Todd and I were also very lucky to have a setting waning moon directly over the city. This when combined with the sunrise rise lighting the clouds in the background made for a wonder shot. Once again the Nikon D800 did not disappoint me in that I was able to work up this from a single raw file, something that would not have been possible in my days with Canon. In the distant background you can also see a flock of birds that were flying down river. What I liked the most about this shot is how the sun was just starting to rise and was only hitting the Regions and Stephens buildings. In the foreground is the Junction bridge and the Main street bridge is directly behind it. Since late December, Little Rock has been lighting all the bridges at night with a bright red light. Some of this light is responsible for the color on the water in the foreground.