Capturing Arkansas

I’ve found a new hobby, and it is fast becoming addictive. It combines two things I like very much, photography and the state of Arkansas.

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette is publishing a coffee table art book filled with photos of Arkansas. The book is unique because the pictures are by everyday people, about everyday things.

Anyone can submit a photo, and the pictures get voted on. The most popular pictures will be in the book. It’s a big book, though, something like 128 pages, so that’s a lot of pictures.
The chapters include Scapes of All Sorts, People, Nature, Sports and Recreation, Everyday Life, Newsworthy Events, Pets, and Institutions.

Although they obviously would like for you to buy the book, you don’t have to. Looking at the pictures, submitting photos, and voting for the photos that will be in the book is all free. This is the best part of the process.

Arkansas, and the people that make up this wonderful, wacky state, is unique. Professional photographers are fine. But they can’t be everywhere all the time. The best pictures are those that just happen suddenly. The first time your child gets a taste of something sour. That picture of a tiny newborn baby in Grandpa’s big arms. Your dog deciding he wants to jump in the river too, and then deciding he very much does not want to be there.

Sunsets. Sunrises. Puppies. First smiles. First steps. Rainbows. An unexpected something; and a quick click that allows the moment to live forever.

I believe the book has the potential to be great. I don’t care if you buy it or not. I’m going to, because I love Arkansas and have a thing for pictures. But I have found just going to the website at www.capturearkansas.com and looking at the pictures is a wonderful way to relax.

Some of the pictures make me laugh. Some make me sad. Quite a few take my breath away. Arkansas is a beautiful state, and the Scapes of all Sorts chapter is worth spending time on, especially at the end of a hectic day. If you can’t take the time to travel to the places yourself, going there on-line is the next best thing.

Some are the ordinary elevated to the extraordinary. An elderly farmer with his crop at the end of a long day, decades of experience etched in every wrinkle. A child at the fair, her tiny face covered in cotton candy while lights swirl behind her. A bee sleeping on a flower, pollen clinging to his wings.

For every picture I see, I want to see a few more. It’s addictive. I’ve seen a good bit of Arkansas, but I haven’t been everywhere and seen everybody. Through these pictures, I can do that.
I’ve submitted a few pictures, just for the fun of it. Anybody can. You can watch how well your pictures are doing, or not, on a personal page. A few pictures I thought might do okay are tanking. So much for my judgement. Logan considers himself in a race with his Papa, because they are in some of the pictures.

When Logan’s picture pulls ahead, he feels victorious. When Dad’s picture is in the lead, Logan isn’t quite so happy. The best picture so far is of me and my dad fishing at the White River, which isn’t making Logan all that thrilled. The worst picture is one with Logan on the U.S.S. Razorback submarine; a unique picture Logan loves. He very much doesn’t like being on the bottom of the pile, and thinks maybe we might want to delete his Papa from the group.

It’s all in fun, and there is certainly no guarantee any of my pictures will make it in the book. With the really fantastic pictures submitted so far, I honestly doubt they will. I don’t care though. Putting them in was fun, watching them go up and down the scale is fun, and seeing all the wonderful other pictures is more than fun.

Capturing Arkansas in photographs is a great idea, and watching the creative process as it happens really appeals to me. Maybe it is because, as a writer, I edit things all the time. Leave this in, take that out, this would be better there. Having a say in which pictures are great and which are not so great makes me feel like I have a part in shaping the book. Since I am a bit of a book fanatic, this also appeals to me.

I’ve lived in Arkansas for most of my life. The eight years I didn’t live here, I very much wanted to come back. Now I have a way to see Arkansas any time I want. Thousands of pictures of things and people and activities you would only see here, in the place I absolutely love to call home.