Once in awhile I get lucky!

              
                

Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens)

These beauties almost never perch. Catching them on the fly takes patience and persistence, at least for me. I got one shot in focus from among many whilst standing at a drainage ditch at the intersection of soybean fields, no shade in sight, sweat running into my eyes and down my spine. I suppose that is why I am inordinately proud!
             
               

Photographer's Journal: Bear Encounter!

        
        

Louisiana Black Bear (Ursus americanus luteolus)

Let me tell you, this was one of my most exciting moments as a photographer!

I drove slowly down a gravel road through acres and acres of corn, cotton and soybeans toward the Tensas National Wildlife Refuge. At one point I slowed to a crawl where a tree line bordering a drainage ditch intersected the road. I was looking for wildflowers in the ditch.

As I eased across the bridge over the drainage ditch and past the end of the tree line, a field of soybeans opened out to my right. Instantly I saw a dark blob with big rounded ears pointed at me on the edge of the field. I stopped and grabbed my camera with the 70-210 zoom already in place. Yes! It was a bear.

I fired off a couple of frames from a distance through my ultra-dusty windshield just to make sure I had proof of this momentous encounter. Then I eased closer. The bear went back to ripping down and eating tendrils of greenery. I stopped again, ran my windshield washer briefly and fired off a couple more frames through my not-quite-so-dirty windshield.

Then I eased my foot of the brake and rolled silently forward until I could power down the passenger side window. The bear looked my direction momentarily, then moved closer along the edge of the field. The first couple of frames I got through the open window are broadsides with the bear's head turned away feeding.

Then the bear sort of hunkered down at the edge of the field and I could see less of the body but it looked my way and put it's nose in the air. It did not occur to me immediately what was going on, but it should have because I have seen deer do this!

Three times the bear sniffed the air and three times I clicked. This is the third and the best. And at just that moment I realized that I had left my AC fan on--it was a blistering hot day. And the AC fan was blowing my scent out that open window. A split second after this shot, the bear got a good whiff and bolted into the field.

Louisiana Black Bear is on the threatened species list. The largest population in Louisiana is at the Tensas NWR. 
      
            

Things Unseen

                            
                      

Let There Be Peace

         

Things Unseen

               
                    

Or Else Alone

"I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone."

--Rainer Maria Rilke

Photographer's Journal: Grosse Savanne

Dream A Little Dream of Me

Just returned from my first ever trip to the southwest corner of the state, where I spent this morning touring marshes and wetlands with Bobby Jordan of Grosse Savanne, a massive farming, fishing, hunting and eco-touring operation.

Beautiful and fascinating. This is the marsh we did by boat. Have many wonderful images to share and this one is a departure from my usual style.

The sedges, rushes and grasses of the marsh form lush patterns and textures, and the slightest breeze sets them in motion. So calming and restorative, like a good dream!
 

Photographer's Journal: Cooter's Bog

                               
                               

Snowy Orchid (Platanthera nivea)

I have a new favorite place to shoot wildflowers! Cooter's Bog is located in the Vernon Unit of the Kisatchie National Forest Calcasieu Ranger District, east of Highway 463 just a few miles north of Pitkin, La. It is an awesomely beautiful spot--always! But last Saturday, I and a few other wildflower-crazy friends from down that way hit the jackpot.

The bog is now dry enough to walk through and even kneel in without getting wet and muddy. And it was covered with blooms: white-topped sedge, bog buttons, bog pinks, rose gentian, colic root and more. But most impressive of all were the snowy orchids. I mean everywhere!

The first one we came upon was kind of by itself. So of course I got down on the ground and took every angle, plus both macros and full views. And then we walked farther and found bunches! I actually got to the point of passing them by without raising the camera! What fun.

                           

Things Unseen

RIP Maya Angalou

Alone

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

--Maya Angelou