Us

i miss "us".

Photo #8

This shot was taken very near to the summit of the 12 mile hike that Eric and I embarked on. At the top of the mountain, Eric and I scarfed down our packed lunch. Peanut butter and jelly never tasted so good! It was pretty cold up here...about 30-40 degrees. My hands actually turned white and lost feeling for a while because I had to keep taking them out of my gloves so I could depress the shutter button half way to auto focus. The wind was a booger too and almost ruined the ecstasy of turkey jerky and crasins.

I particularly liked the orange and lime green coloring on the mountainside. The tree jutting out from mountainside also was interesting.

Photo #7

This shot was taken at an oasis in the middle of the desert. The oasis is to the right of the frame (out of view) but this lone cottonwood tree caught my eye. I particularly liked how the 3 subjects were at different depths of field and how they jogged from right to left of the composition. It invites your eye to dance across the scene. My only gripe is that I wish that the cactus was in a little better focus. I've recently read about hyperfocal focusing...focusing your lens between two distances...usually something close in the foreground (like the cactus in this shot) and infinity (the mountain). I'm going to concentrate on doing that in future shots. The mathematics behind it is quite complex but there are charts designed for those who just want a quick reference guide while out in the field. For anyone interested, I'll post the link below.

http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/hyperfocal.html

Photo #6

This is one of my favorite photos. For our last day in Big Bend, I convinced Eric to embark on the longest trail that was in our brochure. The hike connected 3 separate trails to form a 14.1 mile loop. We got up at the crack of dawn, and drove to the ranger station near the trail head. While I ate breakfast, packed my backpack, and downed a coffee, Eric threw the trash away that had been accumulating throughout the trip and got some info regarding the hike.

The first mile of the hike was stunning. The weather was cool, the air was clean and crisp, the lighting was gorgeous, and the grade was a slight downhill. I was really pumped to begin this journey and put 14.1 miles under my belt. This picture was taken on the one mile descent down the trail. Once we got to a fork in the trail, Eric got out his trusty map with an all-to-familiar/ slightly concerned look on his face. You guessed it... we were on the wrong trail. In fact, we were never on the right trail. My faithful guide had disappointed me again. Needless to say, I was pissed because that now put us back about an hour and a half and we had originally planned the 14.1 miles to take 8 hours and end around 5pm. Since it gets dark around 5pm, there wasn't any wiggle room to work with so Eric and I trekked back up the 1 mile hill (this time slightly uphill) and decided to cut the 14.1 mile loop back to 10 miles. Including the 2 miles that we were on the wrong trail, Eric and I hiked 12 miles that day. And looking back on it, Eric's "happenstance" ended up being a blessing because my legs were ready to call it quits after mile 12.

His "happenstance" also allowed us to see a javelina. While busting ass back up from the one mile mistake, head down and sweating profusely, I nearly ran right into it. I sort of froze and managed to squeal "there's a pig" to warn Eric who was a few paces behind me. Eric bravely stepped up and flailed his hiking sticks in the air while shouting "go away pig!". It slowly gazed toward our direction, and meandered down the hillside after giving us the "you stupid humans" look. We later found a half eaten prickly pear cactus pad that it had sacrificed to clear the path for us. We must have spoiled his breakfast. Although my camera was conveniently hung from my neck ready to capture any moment, I was temporarily brain dead from fright. I don't know why I was so scared because they are pretty harmless looking. I guess that it just caught me off guard since I was preoccupied with silently cursing Eric with every step.

We ended up having a great hike and I later apologized for being so upset about his innocent mistake. He felt awful about it. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. In fact, it allowed me to get this great shot. So, this shot is dedicated to the disoriented navigator, my loving husband and adventurer seeker, Eric.

Here's a pic of a javelina, since I choked under pressure. http://cronkite.asu.edu/newsroom/biggamepermits-javelina.JPG

On the next trip to Big Bend, I definitely want to return to this trail and hike it in full. It's absolutely gorgeous.

"The X"

Eric's crouched down pooping in this shot.  Can you find him?  Look hard.

I just wanted to give you a glimpse at our campsite environment.  Can you see our X-terra in the distance?  The quality of the photo stinks but I think that it could have had the potential for a cool X-terra magazine add, considering the surroundings.  I won't number this one since it's not one of my favs.  I must have sneezed during the exposure and didn't realize it.  Who knows. There ain't no amount of photoshop fixing this bad boy.  I'm not even gonna try.  It's a perfect example of how a descent camera can still produce a crappy (pun intended) exposure if the settings aren't adjusted appropriately.  Enjoy it for what it's worth.

I was just joking about the crouching pooper.  Don't waste your time.  This is your cue to start zooming out of the photo now, Wayne.  

Photo #5

This is another photo from the "hot springs trail" that led us through the desert and along the Rio Grande.  I took this photo at the beginning of the hike so Mexico is on the left side of the shot.  I must say that the reflection of the sky in the river is what initially reeled me in to take this picture.  I took several shots of this scene and ultimately narrowed it down to this composition because of how in-focus and diverse the foreground is.  In particular, I liked the resolution of the red cactus thorns and how the sun illuminated them against the more muted mountainside.  The wispy grasses in the foreground that break through the horizon of the river is also visually interesting to me. They offer something delicate and soft in such a harsh landscape.   And when I say "harsh", I'm talking painfully sharp "stickies" stuck in your but for days harsh!  Who would have thought that laying on the desert floor would be a bad idea?...tarantulas, scorpions, rattlers....the list goes on.  

Photo #4

I chose this pic because it really depicts the vast openness and emptiness of this place.  You probably got that feeling from my other photos too, but in this shot the feeling was accentuated by standing further back from the foreground.  I tend to like placing an element up close in the picture to increase the depth of field but by standing back you can appreciate the open space as we felt it.  I also liked the way the green shrubbery in the middle of the composition complimented the bright blue sky.  

We were initially drawn to this spot because we spotted a desert oasis in the distance while driving to our trailhead.  In the middle of this vast openness sprung huge cottonwood trees which were showcasing their bright yellow foliage against the rich blue, big Texas sky.  You can imaging how that contrasted to the area around it.  As I explored the immediate area, I took this shot. The pic with the cottonwood tree will probably be uploaded eventually as well. 

Mr. Cloud was in the photo #3 taken about an hour before this shot.     

Photo #3

The shot was taken along the 2 mile rocky dirt road to our campsite. It was a little later in the morning and the light was a little harsh but I was really drawn to the vibrant color of the purple prickly pear cactus in the foreground. Apparently they usually have a bluish tint but in the winter they turn pinkish purple. Click on the link below to see them with a more bluish tint and in bloom. Stunning!
www.delange.org/PricklyPearPurple/PricklyPearPurple.htm

Photo #2

This shot was taken on the first morning after the first night that we stayed in Big Bend. For the nights that we stayed in Big Bend, we truck camped. With bears, mountain lions, and javalinas (fyi...looks like a wild pig but actually isn't related to the pig), we (by we, I mean "I") just felt more secure in the truck. And besides, I bought an egg crate mattress topper to make the truck more comfy.

It was about 9:00 when we awoke and I noticed the amazing light and beautiful sky. While I sacrificed my body scoring pics, Eric managed to score some bacon from our campsite neighbor. Sweet! After a long hike the day before, a rather horrible night's sleep, and a rather bland breakfast selection, bacon never tasted so good. I think that I just about inhaled it.

I found thorns still in places you'd never imagine the next day. The worst part was that I only had one pair of pj bottoms and now they were riddled with stickers (thorns). They call anything prickly, "stickers" in these parts. So that nuisance added to the already uncomfortable sleeping accommodations.

So, as you can see, our campsite rocked!

Photo #1

Let me start be saying that my goal is to post a photograph (or more) a day for the next 2 weeks...hence the title of the blog. Now that I said it, I must commit to it.

Eric and I spent 3 days hiking in Big Bend. Each day we hiked a different trail and tried to see as much as we could of this amazingly diverse ecosystem. The first and last day were spent in the mountains and the 2nd day we hiked in the desert to the Rio Grande and more excitingly, the hot springs.

This shot is in the desert, on the way back from the springs. To the left of Rio Grande is Texas and to the right of the river is Mexico. The temperature was probably in the mid 80's so the hot springs wasn't as inviting as we had thought it would be (105 degrees) and once we got there I had to convince my germaphobic husband to shed his hiking pants and join me in his skivvies. Luckily, they weren't white or the Mexican's with binoculars on the other side of the river would have seen more than they bargained for. I have a pic of him in the hot springs but I better get his permission first before I post it.


Since the weather was so mild and the springs were so intense, we intermixed our soak in the springs with a few dips in the Rio Grande. In case you're wondering, it was freezing. I'm talking numbingly cold. It definitely reinforced that my nervous system was at it's peak performance.

Well I bet get going for now.

Til tomorrow.