MyPictureDay: Exploring the Red River in Shreveport

Today I spent the time to visit one of the many parks in Shreveport Louisiana. This one happens to be only 5 minutes from my house. I wanted to capture pictures at least one of the riverboat casinos we have here in Shreveport. I plan on getting pictures of all of them when I find the perfect location to take the shots. Some of them are situated along the river in places that are hard to reach. I also brought my chihuahua "Poncho" with me today and he wasn't much feeling up to walking.

WHAT IS A RIVERBOAT CASINO?

In Louisiana, in order for it to be legal to gamble the casino had to be located on the river. Across the united states there are 6 other states that allow gambling but they have to also be located on the Mississippi or Missouri River. If you guessed that Missouri was one of the states you are allowed to gamble you'd be correct. The other states include Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana and Indiana.

The casinos in Louisiana are actually on the Red River of the South. The Red River is basin for where the Mississippi river drains. We can all gather that its call the Red River because of its color. Some days the river does have a more reddish tint that other days. Today doesn't happen to be one of those days but when it is I sure hope to be able to photograph it.

This is the Horseshoe Casino Riverboat

This riverboat like all the others here in Shreveport are in a fixed location. They actually never move. You won't have to worry about getting motion sickness while on this riverboat. :wink:

For a little fee you can take a cruise down the river and get just more up close and personal with all the riverboats.

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Truss Bridge over Red River on Kansas City Southern Railway

At this angle you are looking at the bridge as it goes through Shreveport

At this angle you are actually looking over the Red River to Bossier City, Louisiana.

I'm always very fascinated with bridges and trains. This is still an active bridge that was originally Built in 1916. I was hoping to get a picture as the train crossed but I was about 5 minutes too late. It crossed as I was getting out of my car.

What's interesting to me is how the color of the bridge changes when you are looking at it from over the river and when its on dry land. The bridge takes on the red color. You can see the many different layers of red on the concrete pillars where the water level has been. Shreveport has flooded on many occasions due to the overflow of the river.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from today. This is one of the many sculptures along the river walk and I just love how the grey skies mirrored the aluminum color of the budding rose metal sculptures.

I believe that these sculptures light up in the evening which is sure to be a sight that I'd love to capture during a night time photo shoot.

This is one of the more amazing pieces of artwork you can find at this park. If you find yourself in this neck of the woods you might want to take some time to walk through the space center and planetarium across the street.

I plan on exploring the wonderful city of Shreveport in my photography. I decided to start with downtown and work my way around the city as I become more familiar with it.

I took all these pictures on my Nikon D3400 using the Auto Setting and the selective color effect.

I hope you enjoyed touring with me today.

tags: #mypictureday #photography #travel #blog