Photographer's Journal: Charles Allen Biological Station

                         
               

Glory, Glory

Sometimes I allow myself to think about the possibility of one day being able to spend all the time I want in the woods or on a prarie or in a swamp or around a lake or... wherever... even in the cleared way beneath power lines... with my camera, seeking.... what? I hardly know how to express what it is I seek... moments of total presence, God's presence in creation, my presence to creation... I call it "prayer."

And when I'm out there with my camera, I find those moments all around. Like in these cypress needles. I mean, have you ever really looked at cypress needles? Especially when they are still in the process of turning, as they are right now? Oh, my God! And I mean that quite literally.

But right now, my life is kind of insanely busy, and I have to settle for snatched time--like the hour I managed to grab last Saturday morning to walk into the Charles Allen Biological Station in the Copenhagen Hills to.... this.

      

Photographer's Journal: Winnsboro Lake

                  
                      

Bee Mine

So... now my son lives in Baton Rouge. And, oh, do I miss him! Well, not his laundry piled in front of the washer! But, mostly, I miss him.

The upside is now I have an excuse to drive to Baton Rouge with some regularity. Did that last weekend and spent a lovely 24 hours with him.

The drive to Baton Rouge and back is actually rather fun. I have found many places to stop along the way to do my favorite thing, the thing that is for me most like a ceaseless prayer of gratitude to the Creator of the Universe.

And one of my favorite places to stop is a small lake just south of Winnsboro on the west side of the highway. Last Saturday afternoon, not much was blooming anymore, except these little lavender asters that were covered with bees and butterflies.

I've gotten much better at identifying the flowers, butterflies and dragonflies I photographe, but I'm still pretty hopeless on the bees. Can anyone help with that?

BTW, I'll be at RiverMarket this Saturday with prints. Not this one, but lots of nice ones!

  

Kisatchie Splendors

                          
                      

Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) on Large Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)

I want to do a book of the splendors of the Kisatchie National Forest. If you have never been there, come for a hike with me some day.

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