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The two sunsets are taken the evening that hurricane Rita hit the Texas/Louisiana coast -- 5 hours before landfall. We were getting the outer bands and they made for an awesome sunset, one you only get associated with storms. I submitted these to Channel 11, the CBS affiliate in Houston, and they used one of them on the air, and posted it on their website.

I am a bit like a shark on the beach here in Nacogdoches. I'm so accustomed to regular photograhic expeditions to the mountains in New Mexico, I'm at a loss as to where to go to capture the same splendor I was catching so routinely up until 3 weeks ago. But I haven't been out much here, yet. That will start next week I hope. I know there are images worth catching, I just have to go on the hunt and find them. Every place has its own unique beauty. The challenge is to move around enough to find those spots.

This spring fed creek runs year round on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country near Medina. Notice the old dog wading in the cool water to cool off and the splash of a rock just in front of him. Katie's brother had thrown it, unbeknowst to me, and it was captured, well, perfectly. Some photos just come together in spite of what you do.

This succulent grows in New Mexico and blooms with the wonderful orange blooms in the spring during April/May. The long stalks can get 15' tall. They are just loaded with 3/4 to 1 inch thorns. In the winter and during droughts, the plant takes on a purple hue and looks dead, but it isn't. The Navaho were known to break off 3' lengths and bury them in the perimeter of their gardens to keep out animals wanting to graze on their crop. I can guarantee that it would keep anything out. Remarkablly, that is all that is needed to make this cactus grow, just bury a 2" section below the surface, and it will take off. I had to try it to see if was true, and it is -- but it did take 2 months for it to show a leaf bloom. With succulents, everything happens slow, except their bloom. Many varieties of cactus (all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti) bloom for just one or two days, then they shrivel and die. An aspiring photographer has to time his visits to capture them just right or he'll completely miss their wonderful annual bloom.

Bloom comes to the desert. I just love those 6 weeks. Every week a need variety of cacti and succulents are blooming, with some overlap. It is like different sections of an orchestra playing in consecutive order. Each is wonderful and builds upon the last section's mezzoforte.

Great backlighting on the tall grass June 20, 2005 on Deer Valley Ranch near Medina. Just a great place to have a camera and two willing feet.