Big Bend National Park

Here is a sneak peak at portion of the Chisos Mountains located in Big Bend National Park (located in Texas).  Tyrell and I spent our Thanksgiving this year in Big Bend exploring what the park had to offer.  Which was A LOT!  I will be sharing more of my images from Big Bend over the next few days.  Stay tuned!  

Frost

Frost is a delicate element of nature.  The simplicity and harmony of the frost that morning brought a calm and stillness to the morning.   

Winter Wonderland

 Although I do not wish for winter to be upon anyone soon I think I may have felt like editing these photos because in Austin it has been a steady 90+ degrees with humidity.  So some days I miss (In SMALL doses) the chill of a Montana day.  Winter is a beautiful time in Montana.  On this particular morning I can remember the clouds settling really low in the morning and then as soon as the sun started to come over the valley it cleared up the clouds and left a beautiful dusting of frost upon everything - it was truly a winter wonderland.  

Spring Time in Austin

Summer is in full swing in Austin for this Montana native.  We've reached 90+ degree days and it doesn't look like its turning cold any time soon.  With the warm weather comes a variety of different blooming plants.  This particular tree was found on Austin's State Capitol lawn.  This picture was actually taken in the middle of March.  I am glad to report that there is an actual spring time in the south!

Oak

Oak trees are seen every where in Texas. This particular tree was spotted right inside the Texas border on our trip down from Montana.

St Edwards Trail -- Wildflowers

On one of Austin's many blue bird sky days we set out for a little day hike.  Being new to Austin we decided to go for a short hike to get a feel for the terrain, weather etc.  The hike mostly took place along Bull Creek.  The wildflowers depicted in this photograph were found in the clearing before the creek.  The bluebonnets were blanketing the ground giving off a really sweet scent.  The bluebonnet is the Texas state flower and this spring has been in full bloom all over.  The amount of rain we've received has allowed for a wide variety of colors and types of wildflowers.  

Yellowstone National Park - Enduring Trees

The interesting colors do not come from a filter but from nature.  This image is from the same trip that I took to Yellowstone during the fire.  These particular trees have seen fire in their past.  You can see the old growth on top that wasn't reach by the fire and the new growth coming up from the forest floor.  I found this to be an interesting juxtaposition of new and old.

Yellowstone National Park - Fire

Driving through Yellowstone National Park at the end of it's busy season we found ourselves slowed down by traffic.  Usually large crowds of visitors to the park would slow down travel, but on this particular day a lightning started fire was slowing down our progress through the park- named the Arnica Fire.  Lightning started fires in the park generally extinguish on their own.  Yellowstone is a fire-adapted ecosystem, and fire plays a major role in maintaing the health of the area's wildlife and vegetation by clearing old underbrush and allowing for new growth - Mother Nature's way of cleaning!

This photograph was taken off the road near a grove right before Yellowstone Lake came into view.  The sun was shining beautifully on the landscape while the smoke was diffusing it.

Tyler - Photo Session

This handsome man is my cousin Tyler.  He recently asked me to take some professional photos of him for an upcoming television show he is going to be apart of.  These are a few of my favorites from the session we had.  He's a natural in front of the camera and I hope these help his days of fame.  Best wishes Tyler!

Cathedral of Junk - Austin, TX

One of the inside stairwells 

Outside view 

Inside view looking down from one of the levels

With a couple of close friends visiting Austin I wanted to take them to something that was unique to Austin and tells of its character.  The Cathedral of Junk stands quietly in the backyard of a small house on a suburban street on the south side of Austin, TX.  The conditions were perfect to explore this eye catching building size sculpture.  We all spread out into various directions exploring, each of us yelling out to each other of all the great finds.  Within this sculpture there is families of birds, various vine plants that have been living harmoniously amongst the junk and layers of junk that allow you to climb safely above ground.  There was a spectacle of objects of every shape, size and color.  We easily spent an hour there and I know I will be back to explore some more.    

Montana Winter

I recently re-located myself to Austin, TX - we've been here a little over two weeks and are enjoying it so far.  I am in search of a better job market for the arts, a change of pace and different climate - Austin had all of that to offer!

With the move my blog updates have been really lacking (actually non-existant).  So with 2010 here, one of my resolutions is to continue to blog new photos weekly.

I thought I'd put this picture up because it reminds me of why I love Montana and also why I was ready for a change of climate.  This picture was taken the day after a storm had come through Bozeman - dumping multiple feet of snow on our community.  Although this snow did not stop daily activity from going on it did slow down the town.  I really enjoyed the contrast of the truck and blue skies against the piles of snow.  Plus these old trucks are always fun to photograph and generally have a story of their own.