Early morning on the High Desert

We went to the northwest area of Big Bend Ranch State Park and were rewarded with this view of the high desert in the early morning The park is completely contained within the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America (most of it in Mexico) covering more than 200000 square miles. High Dynamic Range (HDR) image.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Sigma 10.0-20.0 mm f/4.0-5.6 lens, focal Length 19 mm, ISO 200, 1/200 sec at f/11, using a tripod. Processed using Photomatix Pro 5 to combine three images (two f-stops above and below the primary setting.)

Sunrising over the Chisos Mountains at Big Bend National Park

We arrived at Big Bend National Park before sunrise and saw the start of a beautiful sunrise and wanted to share it with you. For 23 minutes I recorded an image approximately every 30 seconds then placed the images in iMovie to produce this 46 second clip. Hope you enjoy the constantly changing colors as the sun moves from pre-sunrise and finally peaks over the Chisos Mountains. (Unfortunately I do not have video service on WordPress and had to post a link to Facebook, sorry for any inconvenience.)

Images Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Sigma 10.0-20.0 mm f/4.0-5.6 lens, focal Length 16 mm, ISO 200, at f/16 using a tripod.

Contrabando Church at Sunrise

This image was captured as the sun was rising and started painting the mountains with light. We are standing in the Contrabando Movie Set (Big Bend Ranch State Park). On the right is Mexico and the Rio Grande River. This is a High Dynamic Range (HDR) that is a composite of three images, merged using Photomatrix Pro 5.

White-lined sphinx moth

Look it’s a hummingbird feeding on the flowers, no it’s a moth. We watched and photographed two of these moths as the flitted from flower to flower. The sun was going down so there wasn’t much light making it task to capture a clear image.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, focal Length 400 mm, ISO 3200, 1/800 sec at f/5.6. Noise removed from image using Topaz DeNoise 5.

Big Bend Ranch State Park (Contrabando Movie Set)

On a drive west from Lajitas, Texas along the River Road (FM170) following the Rio Grand we spotted this great landscape as we started down a step hill. It turns out that it is part of a movie set, but it still makes a great landscape. The image was captured in the early afternoon so the colors are not what we would like, but overall still interesting.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, focal Length 112 mm, ISO 200, 1/400 sec at f/8.0.

 

Vermilion Flycatcher (Male)

Walking the trails in South Llano River State Park I saw this Vermillion Flycatcher dive down into the grass and retrieve this tasty morsel.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 600 mm f/4.0 lens, focal Length 600 mm, ISO 200, 1/160 sec at f/8.0, using a tripod.

Dry Camping

We stopped at Monahans Sandhills State Park in Texas and they did not have a place for us to hook up our trailer to water and electricity, so we ended up spending three days here in isolation and enjoyed every minute of it. This image was captured at sunrise providing the deep colors. That is our red truck and silver trailer we use to travel throughout the United States.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Sigma 10.0-20.0 mm f/4.0-5.6 lens, focal Length 19 mm, ISO 800, 1/13 sec at f/8.0, using a tripod. Processed using Photomatix Pro 5 to combine three images (one f-stop above and below the primary setting.)

Vermillion Flycatcher (Female)

After having captured many images of the bright red and black male Flycatcher we finally spotted the female you see here. No bright flashy color here and hard to beleive that it is a Vermillion Flycatcher. Image captured while visiting South Llano River State Park, Texas, USA.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, focal Length 400 mm, ISO 400, 1/125 sec at f/5.6.

Bewick’s Wren

While out for a walk at South Llano River State Park, Texas, USA, we saw a pair of Bewick’s Wrens going down into this pipe fence post. It appeared that they were carrying food when they arrived, so we assume they were feeding some babies in a nest inside the post.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, focal Length 400 mm, ISO 400, 1/125 sec at f/5.6.

White-crowned Sparrow

On a sunny day at South Llano River State Park, Texas, USA, this sparrow was perched in a tree high above the path we were walking.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, focal Length 400 mm, ISO 400, 1/100 sec at f/5.6.