In April I took an extended camping trip through west Texas coordinated around the open preserve weekend at The Nature Conservancy’s Independence Creek Preserve. I also visited Garner State Park, Lost Maples State Park, Big Bend National Park and Davis Mountains State Park. I know that for some folks west Texas is just cactus and desert but I love the clean, quiet beauty of this vast piece of Texas.

Independence Creek Preserve is a real treat since it is totally unexpected. Independence Creek provides a substantial fraction of the water flowing down the Pecos River into the Rio Grande. The area was occupied by Indians for thousands of years due to the plentiful water and game. There are hundreds of pictograph sites throughout the area which are unfortunately fading rapidly.

Big Bend National Park is one of the most distinctive of all our national parks. At around a million acres it is at the north end of the Chihuahuan Desert but it also encompasses the Chios Mountains which rise to 7800 feet so the terrain is quite varied. I have visited the Big Bend area many times but I always see something new each time.

Please have a look at a few of my images from this trip here.

Every spring the Dallas Arboretum explodes with color in an event called Dallas Blooms. I have photographed this event so many times I have lost count. The Arboretum horticulture team has quite a challenge each year as they strive to surpass the previous year’s efforts. I won’t comment on that other than to say that it is always amazing and this year is no exception. If you live within driving distance of Dallas and don’t go and see this then you are just dead and don’t know it!

Some images from this spring can be viewed here. I am trying some new post processing techniques here. See if you can spot them.