3… 2… 1…

Photo Information

Taken:	17 March 2012 20:50 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon EOS Rebel T2i / Cannon 75-300mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	80mm, 0 EV
	f/4
	2.5

Backstory

Although this picture is blurry from my inability to hold the camera still for the 2.5 seconds it took to charge the CCDs, the shakiness adds to the illusion of a launch. The subject is really an oil rig at night.

–20 June 2013

High Chaparral

Photo Information

Taken:	22 November 2009 11:45 near Alamogordo, NM
Camera:	Cannon Rebel XT / 75-300mm
Exposure:	ISO 200
	300mm, 0 EV
	f/10
	1/500

Backstory

We had gone to Alamogordo, New Mexico for my sister’s funeral. We decided to stay at an RV park marked by giant cowboy boots and across the street from the world’s largest pistachio.

On a walk around the place, this Greater Roadrunner came prancing under the fence. He was content to let me take several pictures, so long as I kept my distance (which I was able to do thanks to my new-ish 300mm lens. He seemed almost a curious about me as I was about him until he finally decided there was nothing interesting to eat on this side of the fence and headed back into the desert.

–2 April 2012

Blue Skimmer at Da Farm

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2008 11:07 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	54mm, 0 EV
	f/10
	1/200

Backstory

I usually see these dragonflies near water, but this one wasn’t afraid to venture out into the fields and pastures. Just out taking a walk, burning digital film.

–18 June 2013

Grasses

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2008 11:02 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	53mm, 0 EV
	f/11
	1/250

Backstory

Every now and then Nature presents you with ready-made composition complete with symbolism. Here three stages of life overlap in three strands of grass. Make of it what you will.

–19 June 2013

Black Swallowtail on Creeping Oxeye

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2005 10:59 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	55mm, 0 EV
	f/14
	1/500

Backstory

It was a good walk. As you can see from the number of pictures I’m posting, the farm is a very interesting place. All you have to do is walk around and open your eyes in the country, and Nature will astound you with wondrous bounty.

I’m always amazed at how cooperative Nature’s creatures are when they aren’t being deadly violent. Here a Hairy Wedelia—I also love the name Texas creeping-oxeye—(Wedelia texans) feeds a Black Swallowtail (Papillo polyxenes) in return for the butterfly’s work as a pollinator.

–20 June 2013

Tropical Checkered Skipper

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 10:57 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18mm-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	55mm, 0 EV
	f/14
	1/400

Backstory

I believe this little feller is a tropical checkered skipper (Pyrgus oilers), but someone will let me know if I got that wrong. Its little brown and whitish mottling can make it hard to pick out against in the straw of a post-summer paddock. This guy’s wings have seen better days, but he was still flying when he stopped by to pose for me.

–21 May 2013

The House That Was a Barn

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2008 10:41 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	22mm, 0 EV
	f/11
	1/400

Backstory

This is another picture of “The House That Was” forming part of an archetypal rural landscape. The shadows from the trees, the overgrown brush blocking the front door, the ancient TV antenna, the rusty fuel tank, and the rust implement in the foreground all provide part of the ambience that screams, “rural” to me. But perhaps that’s because I watched this house’s slow decline from habitable to rubble. At this point, Dad was only using it as an occasional barn.

From a photographic standpoint, I like the way the temperature cools from the blistering sun to the cooler shade under the trees. Rust also seems to be a natural part of the color pallet. It’s a darker hue of the thirsty grass.

–13 May 2013