Big Bend National Park – January 2017 – Part 1

Big Bend National Park – January 2017 Photo Workshop, Part 1

Big Bend National Park was beautiful as always and the photo workshop with Kathy Adams Clark was one of the best ever. The weather was lovely for January – cool at night and warm in the daytime. We had a small group of experienced photographers, all willing and able to make a few short hikes to see more of the amazing scenery that the park has to offer.

We do spend some time up in the Chisos Basin since that is where we stay at night. Casa Grande and The Window are the iconic photo ops that I can’t resist even after so many trips. I’m still trying to find new ways to photograph them.

Another photograph we always take in the Basin is of the beautiful patterns and colors in the rock walls. One of Kathy’s favorite tricks is to pour water on the rocks to bring out their amazing colors. I took “before and after water” photos of this rock. If you click on the center line and drag it left and right, you can see both photos. Good trick!

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We were all excited to see the beginnings of the bluebonnet blooms. They were few and far between, but we did have to make one stop to document our beloved state wildflower.

Another favorite stop was Santa Elena canyon – from the overlook and also down at the river level. Terlingua Creek was dried up, making it easy to get to the trail to hike up into the canyon, but we didn’t make the hike this time. When we were photographing the light hitting the canyon walls from the overlook, I couldn’t decide which I liked more  – the wonderful clouds in the sky or the sunlight waking up the desert foliage on the ground. So, I took a two shot vertical panorama with my camera in horizontal (landscape) orientation to be able to get both the clouds and the foliage in the same image.

At the suggestion of a participant, we changed up our schedule to include a fun, easy hike that we haven’t done in a while – the trek to Ernst Tinaja. Getting to the other side of the tinaja is not fun or easy with people (me!) with bad knees, but it is a must since that is the best view.

A flower in the desert is hard for me to pass up. This one is not spectacular, but it is still fun to see them peeking out in January. The other “must do” images are the wonderful layers in the Sierra del Carmens and the tunnel that still drags out my inner kid to play. You have to be very careful in the tunnel with a spotter for cars, but it is a fun place to photograph. Oh, and when you are there, you absolutely have to call out and hear your echo.

More about this trip in Part 2.