Caddo Lake and the Giant Salvinia Problem!

A Nice Place to Swing

I have been fishing Caddo Lake since I was a kid. These days I will bring along my camera equipment in order to get some photographs of this shallow lake on the Texas-Louisiana border. Early November is usually the best time to capture the Bald Cypress Trees after they have turned rusty orange.

Colorful Caddo in 2013

I was shocked this fall to see how much of the lake is being taken over by an invasive species named Giant Salvinia. The main lake was so clogged with the weed that I did not even try to run through it with my boat. Surprisingly, some more confined areas were not so clogged up with the weed but I think a little current in these areas keeps the channels clear. You can see some of the weed in all of these photos. The bottom photo is completely covered with the stuff. I have yet to figure out if this is all Giant Salvinia or if the brown seed stalk looking things are a separate plant growing in the Salvinia. Either way, most of this water is about waist deep. 
I don't think we have heard the last of Giant Salvinia. I hope the biologists figure out a way to control this nasty weed before it starts taking over other lakes.

Overgrown With Weeds

The McDonald Observatory and Guadalupe Mountains National Park!

 McDonald Observatory and the Milky Way

 Last weekend I traveled to El Paso, Texas to participate in my final art festival of the year. Weather for the festival turned cold, windy, and even icy, but the two days I photographed prior to the festival were great. The weather was warm with little wind and the clouds vanished after sunset for my first stop at the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis. I had driven all day from my home in mostly cloudy conditions but it seemed the farther I drove west the clearer the skies became. My last minute decision to go photograph the observatory paid off. Skies cleared at sunset and a gorgeous Milky Way was clearly visible once all signs of the sun were gone. I was also pleasantly surprised by the red glow coming out of the observatory. I could barely make it out with my eyes but a long exposure made the red very obvious in the photographs.

Guadalupe Reflections #2

 After photographing at the McDonald Observatory, I drove 80 more miles to Van Horn and finally stopped for the day. After shooting a few things in Van Horn the next morning, I drove to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The first thing I did when I arrived was to scout out the salt flats west of the park. I had heard that there was some flooding back in September and I also remember seeing pictures of the mountains reflected in a large lake. Sure enough part of the salt flat was now a very large shallow lake. My plans for the evening were now to come back at sunset.
 

 Guadalupe Sunset

After driving back to the park, I spent most of the afternoon hiking in McKittrick Canyon. GMNP has a lot of maple trees growing in the canyons and the fall color can be spectacular. Unfortunately, I already knew that I was about two weeks past the peak. Many of the trees had already lost their leaves and the rest were soon to drop. Peak color or not the hike is still very pretty. After the hike it was back to the flooded salt flats. Conditions could not have been better. The winds totally died and a few clouds pinked up at sunset.

 

 The Light From Within

Before starting my final drive to El Paso I had one more image I wanted to create. Just down the road from the salt flat was some abandoned buildings. I set up the tripod and set the camera for 30 second exposures. This gave me enough time to fire a flash with a colored gel several times during an exposure. I had planned to combine parts of several exposures but decided the light on this single exposure worked just fine.

Sooooooooo...after two pleasant days of photography just how bad was the weather for the art show? Well, the weather changed dramatically on Friday. During the show on Saturday and Sunday it was windy and the temperature never reached 40 degrees. I also knocked some snow and ice off the roof of my tent Sunday morning. That is the first and hopefully the last time I have to deal with that. I did manage to sell a few pieces despite the less than favorable conditions. Overall, I would consider it a successful trip to west Texas.

The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Penn Valley Park and the Christopher S Bond Bridge

Last month I spent a few days in Kansas City. The art show that I participated in kept me pretty busy but I did manage to get out and shoot some of the local landmarks.  This first image is of the Christopher S Bond Bridge. This bridge crossing the Missouri River was opened in the fall of 2010. It is sometimes called the New Paseo Bridge since it was a replacement for the Paseo Bridge.

The second image is of the new Kauffman Center which opened in September 2011.

From Wikipedia 
The Center was created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Unlike some other major civic construction projects, no taxpayer funds went into its construction. The City of Kansas City contributed and operates a parking garage adjacent to the Kauffman Center.
It is the performance home to the Kansas City Symphony, the The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet which in the past performed at the Lyric Theatre (Kansas City, Missouri), eight blocks north of the center. The Kauffman Center houses two unique performance venues: Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall.

I feel fortunate to  have found this last location that I photographed. After leaving the show one evening I quickly searched for a location that gave a good view of downtown. After spotting Penn Valley Park, I parked the car and then saw the statue of "Scout" at the top of a hill. It made a perfect foreground overlooking the Kansas City skyline.

The Rochester Institute of Technology's Big Shot project!

I spent last weekend selling my photography at the Art on the Greene art festival. Weather was lousy and they even cancelled Sunday because of high winds. Fortunately, I heard about the The Rochester Institute of Technology's Big Shot project. This event was going to take place Saturday after dark at Cowboy's Stadium which just happens to be across the street from the art festival.  I decided to bring my camera and tripod on Saturday so I could get in on the fun at Cowboy's Stadium.

This annual project has been going on for years at various landmarks. After turning out the lights, hundreds or even thousands of people with flashlights shine them on the structure and "light paint" it during a long exposure. Participants are instructed to move themselves and the lights during the exposure. For comparison I have included a before and after of the stadium.

Several minutes of light painting would be followed by a five minute gap when instructions to the participants were given from a PA System. Adjustments would be made and there would be another two minutes of light painting. After I took several shots from my location, I decided to head back to the art show. The man shooting next to me had mentioned taking some shots earlier by this reflection pool. I decided to stop by it in case they did some more light painting. Lucky for me! They did and I was able to get this shot. I can't believe I was the only one shooting from this location. It gave me the most unique shot I have seen from the event.

Art on the Greene is a nicely laid out show and it is a shame the weather kept everyone at home. All reports from last year were good for attendance and sales but that wasn't the case this year. I took this shot at the show right before walking over to Cowboy's Stadium Saturday evening. I don't think I missed much while I was gone.

A trip to New Mexico!

In January, I was invited by my friend, Gary Kelly to ride with him to New Mexico for several days of photography. Gary is the field trip chairman for the Dallas Camera Club. The field trip was mainly centered around the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge but we also spent some time at several other locations. Bosque is know for it's huge populations of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes that winter at the refuge and it didn't disappoint. Both mornings we witnessed massive blast-offs of the geese from one of the lakes at the refuge. However, I probably spent most of my efforts towards the cranes. Lots of good opportunities for shots whether they were flying, landing, or just walking in the lake.

During the trip, I had the opportunity to shoot some with a 600mm lens. While driving the refuge road I got this image of a White-Crowned Sparrow.

About an hours drive west of Socorro is the The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. The skies on Friday afternoon cleared so we decided to make the drive to the Array and get some night shots. Conditions couldn't have been better.... Actually, the elevation is 7000 feet and the temperature was 9 degrees when we finished shooting that night. Fortunately, the wind had died down or it would really have been hard to have spent much time out of the car.

We spent the middle of the day on Saturday driving to White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Our plan was to shoot the evening and following morning at the monument. I was able to get some good images but I do wish they would open the gates and let you drive in a little earlier in the mornings. The sun is already up by the time you are able reach your location and start shooting. I bet photographers have spent many a tortured moment sitting in line at the entrance gate watching a great sunrise go to waste. Fortunately, it was a cloudless sky and we didn't really miss anything.

Everything about the trip was great until.............the drivers side window broke and was stuck in the down position. This happened about an hour into the last morning at White Sands and it was about 7 degrees outside. I guess its good that it didn't happen the first day because locking the car with it full of camera equipment would have been a moot point. Dealing with that would have been a PITA. Driving home that day was a little cold. Fortunately, I had brought some of my serious cold weather head gear with me. I don't even want to think about how cold my face would have gotten without it.

My Top Ten Images From 2012!

Every year I look back at the images I have taken and choose ten of my favorites. I don't base this on how well they sold or how much they were liked on social media. They are just images I like. Images where I feel that I successfully captured with my camera the essence of the scene that was offered to me. They are in the order that I took them with a little story about each one. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

"The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Cable Design"

Early March found me attending the celebration of the opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas. It would be the last chance for the public to walk around on the bridge before it opens to vehicle traffic. The graphic nature of the arch and the cables make the bridge a real treat for a photographer. I shot a lot of images that I was happy with but this black and white is probably my favorite of the graphic ones.

"The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Fireworks  #1"

At 9 p.m. a fireworks display was planned. I was told about where they would shoot them but it was still a little bit of a guess as to the best location to photograph them from. Fortunately I set up and composed in just the right spot. I was pleased with many of the Firework images but the red, white, and blue theme of this one made it stand out.

"Flooded River Reflections"

Several weeks after the bridge celebration, the Trinity River flooded. I definitely wanted some good shots of the lighted bridge reflected in the river. I spent two evenings shooting the river at dusk. One of the last compositions on the second evening turned out to be the favorite.

"Field of Dreams"

The wildflowers in Texas were great this spring but they did peak out several weeks earlier than I ever remember. I saw a photograph of a field another photographer had taken just south of Dallas near Ennis. It was already being called the "Field of Dreams". Several days later I made the short drive to Ennis and got this image at sunset.

"Annular Eclipse Sunset"

On May 20th there was going to be an Annular Eclipse. The "Ring of Fire" would not be visible from my home but I determined that I should be able to see the eastern edge of the eclipse in Roscoe, Texas. After driving around the Roscoe Wind Farm I finally stopped at this location for my photography. Fortunately the clouds moved out of the way enough so I could capture the sun just as it hit the horizon. A few minutes later it was all gone. This is one of the most interesting photos I have seen from the eclipse.

"Energy"

During the last week of July I was driving to Ruidoso, New Mexico for an art show. As my brother and I drove towards Brownfield, Texas, we noticed some lightning up ahead. It was also close to sunset and we were looking for something to photograph. We had been driving awhile and needed a break anyway. After locating a pump jack for some fore ground interest, we spent the next hour shooting the lightning. It put on quite a show.

"Oklahoma Sky"

This image is another one which was created while traveling to or from an art show. In early September I was driving home from the Arts Festival Oklahoma. With no moonlight on a clear night, I took a quick detour into a scenic overlook north of Ardmore, Oklahoma just to check out the stars. It was very hard to see but when I noticed the windmill on the hilltop, I decided I better get out the camera and take some pictures.

"Pink Skies Over Bryce Canyon"

A few weeks ago my wife and I traveled out west to several of our favorite places. I was blessed with great sunrises for two mornings at Bryce Canyon National Park. It was hard to choose the best one of the bunch.

"Wagon and Old House in Morning Light"

While driving back to the hotel after shooting the sunrise, I noticed that the great clouds and sky were still with me. A last quick stop at this old wagon and house was definitely worth it.

"Evening Light Over Cathedral Gorge"

During our trip out west we drove up to Cathedral Gorge State Park. It is a small park near Panaca, Nevada. The area had received a little snow the day before. Hiking around in the wet mud was not much  fun but the snow which hadn't melted yet sure made for some nice images. The following morning was cloudy and drizzly so I am grateful for my afternoon of good light at the Gorge.

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you have a great 2013!

The "Bird" competition!

Last night I was one of the judges for the annual "Bird" competition between the Dallas Camera Club and the Fort Worth Camera Club. Each club entered 20 prints and 20 digital images. Subject matter was open. The photos did not have to be of birds. The "Bird" is actually a small sculpture which is the trophy that the winning club gets to keep for the following year. I was told I had 2-4 minutes before the judging to show some of my work, promote myself, or just tell the attendants about myself and my work. We were free to do this however we pleased. I had purchased ProShow Gold about 3 years ago and decided to use it to create a slideshow to music. Photodex has since upgraded the software but I did not feel that I missed any of the bells and whistles included in the upgrade. They also make a more powerful slide making tool called ProShow Producer. 
The small version of this video doesn't even come close to doing it justice. However, it looks great if you watch the full screen version. Enjoy!