On the Way to the Chisos

Heading into Big Bend National Park, I always make a lot of stops for photographs.  The view here is big and scenic.  I always hope for decent clouds, good light, and a chance to make an image.  

Having a combo of light and clouds it was a great day to take my time and do some large format work as I made my way toward the Chisos.  It was mid morning and I was making it a relaxing drive of frequent stops.  It is roughly 30 miles from the north entrance to the park headquarters at the base of the Chisos.  I think it took me almost 3 hours to make that drive with all the frequent stops I made and especially if I thought there was a good spot for the 4x5.

Here was one of those spots.  I could see this rock pile from the road and carried my gear out with the hopes of making a good image of the desert floor and distant Chisos.

At first I was going to put the pock pile in the image but as I scouted the area with my digital camera it seemed the better image was from the top of the rocks, so it was there I set up the tripod and worked this image.

The shot is on Astia 100 and this box has not aged well.  When I got my film developed, all the Asita looked bad and my Velvia looked great.  This is pretty much what the chrome looks like.  I could probably work it more in Photoshop but decided to leave it as is.

I spent about 30 minutes here and the sun was already warm-and it was early February.  I packed up and headed down the road.

Desert Arroyo

In February of this year, I had the opportunity to head to Big Bend National Park in west Texas.  Big Bend is a park of superlatives that is frankly one of the five best national parks for the landscape photographer.  This is big empty country and the end of the road.  

I arrived at the north entrance to the park one morning and began the long drive to the Chisos.  The light was interesting.  Not great, but it had potential for both photography and for using large format film.  I crossed a dry desert arroyo the was leading toward the Rosillos Mountains and thought it might be worthy of an image.  I snapped a few quick pics and decided to give it a go on color film.

I set up the camera wondering how long it can take for this gully to fill when it flash floods here in the desert.  There was a nearby sign that said the road bridge across this gully had been taken by the flood waters more than once.  That would be some powerful moving water.

I decided to go with the longer 210mm lens to compress the distance to the mountains slightly.  210mm is not very "long" but it is realistically as long a lens as I need.


I framed up the arroyo with the Rosillos Mountains in the upper corner and used Velvia 100.

One image in the bag.  With luck I would have the opportunity to make several more on this trip.

Urban Wilds

Finding landscape images in town can be a challenge.  The urban setting most people live in keeps getting bigger and finding nature and specifically nature you can photograph and just get the nature part of is tougher.  Luckily it is still there if you know where to look.  

I know of several good local parks where I have found views and scenes that lack the trapping of modern society and I can just photograph nature.  Here is one of my locations in Trinity Park.  Right across the river from downtown Fort Worth is a great urban park that follows the river for a ways.  Much of the park is set up for the "modern" visitor with playgrounds and picnic tables, but there is also some areas where the tress grow thick and small streams run through them.

Here is a view that is right off of the bike path where it crosses one of those small streams.  It is a great view and I set it up specifically to photograph the creek in black and white.

Taken with the 75mm lens and Efke 25 processed in DR-5.

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.