Exhibit at Big Bend NP

Wow, it has been a long time since I published a story. I know there are lots of excuses that you do not want to know but two of the excuses are related to photography.

First, since last fall, all the pictures, that I was taking with my big lens, were somewhat fuzzy (as if I was shaking badly). So, I did not have any pictures about which to write. It wasn't until May that they, my husband and a friend, did some tests on my camera and on my lens. They determined that the lens was no longer taking pictures with a sharp focus. I had had this lens since 1999 and it has been carried many, many miles and it needed re-alignment. I sent the lens to a Canon repair center. It is back and I am taking wonderful pictures again.

Second, I was busy learning how to develop and print my photos.

My husband and I spent 11 days in Big Bend NP in the spring of 2008. We met Dr Rob Dean, a ranger at Big Bend NP, at Post Park in Marathon where we all were birding. In the days following, we met Dr Dean several times at his work in the park. As a result, he viewed my website and subsequently, asked me for permission to use some of my photos in some posters for the Rio Grande Valley Visitor Center.

This was quite a learning experience because it is one thing to take photos with your digital camera, it is quite another to develop your own pictures as a print. With Photoshop CS3 and 7.0, I managed to print some very nice pictures, 43 in all. These became the basis for 3 posters of Doves, Red Birds and Black Birds in the visitor center. The entire project took 5 months and was finished in December.

Below is a picture of the 3 posters.


The Rio Grande Valley Visitor Center was opened in November and at the close of the season in May, Dr Dean wrote:

...we exceeded 13,000 visitors this year. We feel that the success of this season is due to two things - our theme being birds and your images being the dominate draw. The posters highlighting black birds and doves were the dominant features over our bird book display. Adjacent to that was our digital image picture frame which rotated through your images identifying each bird by name. In the viewing room, we hung 18 of your images in black picture frames with the picture of you and your gear and a key identifying those images. These will remain as a permanent fixture in the viewing room and we have others that we will hang to augment those already on the wall.

Some of the photos on permanent display:

Inca Dove

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Common Raven

Cooper's Hawk

Blue-throated Hummingbird

Greater Roadrunner

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

All images © MSCI

The First Green 2

Last blog, I also mentioned two other evergreen plants: sotol and century plants. I found these green plants be fascinating.

Sotol from Sotal Vista

Sotol leaves

The dried flower stalks were used as building materials and,
today, as walking sticks.

Close-up of dried sotol flower

Century Plant is the largest Agave species in Big Bend NP.
It blooms once in 20-50 years with bright yellow flowers in and then dies.

The leaves are not really green but rather a blue-gray color.
The hearts of the plant were baked, dried and stored as winter food
by the Native Americans.

Dried stalks can be over 30 feet tall

Close-up of dried century flower

Dried dead plant

Stay tuned for more evergreen plants.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars

The First Green

When we arrived in mid-March at Big Bend NP, TX, there still were no leaves on the trees and shrubs. Spring was coming, though the nights were cold with temperatures in the 30's.

The first green plants that I found; yucca, lechuguilla, sotol, century plant, cactus, along with the ubiquitous creosote and ocotillo, stay green year round. Still, I found some green!

Chisos Mountains from Dugout Wells with yucca, creosote, cactus, ocotillo.

Mountain side from Lost Mine Trail in Chisos Basin with century plant,
sotol, creosote.

There are several species of yuccas in Big Bend and
all are members of the lily family.
Torrey Yucca is the most common yucca in the park.

Soaptree Yucca
Inside the trunk and roots is a slippery fluid
that was used by early Americans as soap.
This is the tallest yucca and may be 250 years old.

Thompson Yucca

Lechuguilla is an agave species which blooms once and then it dies.
The leaves are long, tough, and very sharp
which can penetrate clothing and even leather.
It is also called Shin-daggers.

Lechuguilla (lay-che-gee'-ya)
The fibers are still used today to make rope in Mexico.

Dried seed pods

After blooming, the plant dies

Stay tunned for more green stuff.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars