Great Falls of the Clear Fork

The Great Falls of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas.

Texas is not known for waterfalls.  We have some historic and some very scenic rivers but the Trinity River is not one people seek out like the Rio Grande, Pedernales, Guadalupe or some of the others.  The Clear Fork is not a very long river either.  Running through only two counties and is about 50 miles long from its headwaters to where it joins with the West Fork in downtown Fort Worth.

It is a small river.  It is also in my backyard (literally) and I often walk, bike and photograph along it.

This waterfall is on the river close to where I live and I visit this spot a regular basis.

I like finding such a neat spot in town and close to home.  Over the last decade I have photographed in a variety of light, seasons, and conditions.

Here is a time I was wading in the river as some nice rain had put a nice flow over the rocks and making it a potentially good image.  I set up the camera and photographed it in both color and B+W.

Here is the monochrome version which better captures the scene this day.

I need to revisit this scene again as the new view here now has a bridge crossing the river only a few yards behind the falls.  My nice scene that might be mistaken for someplace wild will now be firmly pulled into the city.

Rock Ledges of the Clear Fork

Rock ledges of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was a clear morning one day and even though the conditions were less than idea for color photography, I decided to take the camera and walk along the Clear Fork near my home.

The rock ledges have always intrigued me and I often spend a sunrise or sunset with my camera.  With mostly clear sky I decided to concentrate more on the details of the ledge, water, and some of the early morning light reflecting there.

 The river had a decent flow and I waded along the shallow ledges until I found a good set up.  I made the shot on Velvia and then with the tripod securely not going anywhere, I walked upsteam some and made the image of the camera in the water. 

The Clear Fork of the Trinity River

The Clear Fork of the Trinity River is a small river by almost any standard.  It forms in Parker County, just west of Fort Worth and runs southeast into Tarrant County, where it turns northeast and runs to downtown and joins with the West Fork.  All told 40-50 miles or so.

It is the river I live along and one I do like to photograph.  Usually I walk or bike along the length of it looking for photographs.  I also will drive out into Parker County and look for vantage points of the river.  Usually that means finding roads that cross the river as it is all on private property here.

This is one such location I can see from a bridge.  Luckily this is a unbusy side road that lets me safely visit early in the morning and make images.

On this spring or early summer morning I was able to set up my camera and work with with greens and the river to make this image with black and white Efke 25 film.  

I like the forest view here.  The river is young and not really much more than a stream.  

It makes me wonder what the view is like around the bend.